3K ILOCOS NORTE TRIKE DRIVERS GET PHP9.6-M FUEL AID

February 2, 2024 Provincial

LAOAG CITY

Another round of fuel subsidy on Friday is set to benefit 3,005 tricycle drivers to help them cope with oil price
inflation. Athena Nicolette Pilar, Metro Ilocos Norte Council (MINC) general manager, in a statement on Tuesday, said distribution of fuel aid to all qualified trike drivers has been scheduled in time for the celebration of Ilocos Norte’s 206th foundation anniversary, a special non-working holiday in the province.

“All eligible beneficiaries have been pre-identified as members of the MINC who are supporting Ilocos Norte’s vision
to improve transportation services in key economic zones,” she said. The Ilocos Norte government’s fuel subsidy
program is separate from that of the national government’s Pantawid Pasada Program. Beneficiaries were given
PHP1,000 worth of gas vouchers since 2021 but the amount was increased to PHP3,000 this year due to soaring oil prices.

“Thank you to the provincial government of Ilocos Norte for thinking about the welfare of the transport sector. This is helpful to us,” Arnel Viernes, a tricycle driver from Laoag City said in an interview on Tuesday. Last year, some 15,000 public transport drivers and operators in Ilocos Norte benefited from the provincial government’s fuel aid program.

(Leilanie Adriano/PNA)