Senator Grace Poe on Thursday welcomed the resumption of the fuel subsidy distribution to public utility vehicle drivers and vehicles.
Poe said in a statement the resumption of subsidy distribution is a "timely response by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)."
"We urge the government to speed up efforts on the use of digital payments through financial service providers like e-wallets for a more efficient aid distribution during a crisis," she said.
"Help is most effective when it reaches our people in their time of need," she added.
According to Poe, the use of the national ID system will also make it easier to identify and verify the data of the beneficiaries.
Her statement come after COMELEC gave the green light to the implementation of the fuel subsidy program amid the election campaign spending ban.
According to COMELEC, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which filed the petition for the initiative, should comply to the strict implementation of the program. This includes the submission of information on how the project is implemented, the parameters of the implementation, the specific target beneficiaries, and how they will apply to avail of the grants of the program.
The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, as well as other involved agencies will also need to specifically mention the beneficiaries, how and when the project will be implemented, as well as documentation as to the compliance implementation, the poll body added.
The LTFRB previously launched its P3-billion Pantawid Pasada program to extend aid to drivers and operators amid the skyrocketing fuel prices in the country.
It was suspended, however, when the local campaign season began on March 25.
