PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency on March 24, 2026, in response to the war between the United States-Israel alliance and Iran in the Middle East, through Executive Order 110. The following day, he signed into law Republic Act (RA) 12316, which granted him emergency powers to temporarily suspend or reduce excise taxes on petroleum products in response to surging global oil prices.
The Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport was adopted as the whole-of-government response framework, which includes the payout of “ayuda” to vulnerable sectors of society.
Special fuel subsidy payouts for jeepney drivers in Manila took place on April 15. Payouts for taxi drivers followed on April 24 and 25. Distributions for ride-hailing services, motorcycle taxis and delivery riders were scheduled throughout that same week.
Problems exposed during hearing
Several key problems encountered during the fuel subsidy distribution were identified at a recent House of Representatives Committee on Transportation hearing led by Quezon City Rep. Franz Pumaren.
A significant number of transport workers — especially those operating in the informal sector — do not possess valid government-issued identification, such as passports or driver’s licenses, effectively barring them from accessing available subsidies. The absence of a dependable identification system leaves the government ill-equipped to accurately identify and reach the intended beneficiaries — a capability that is essential when directing aid to those bearing the brunt of unpredictable fuel prices.
Lawmakers observed that these difficulties echo the data management failures experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, indicating that deeply rooted identification problems remain unresolved.
The lack of a credible, fully operational national ID system in the Philippines stands as a barrier to the timely and efficient distribution of fuel subsidies and related assistance to transport workers. As of May, fewer than half of all national IDs had been issued, leaving the government mired in operational difficulties that lawmakers characterized as a serious hindrance to the delivery of aid.
The deficiencies in the identification system have given rise to data irregularities — among them, duplicate entries and the appearance of “ghost riders” on official records. Compounding the problem, a number of legitimate drivers were omitted from the recipients’ list altogether, while others on the list faced delays owing to misspellings in their registered names.
The combination of manual verification processes and unreliable beneficiary lists has bred confusion and disorder at distribution sites. Many drivers reported unclear queuing arrangements and incidents of line-cutting that sparked commotions and frayed tempers — particularly among those who had endured waits of up to six hours under the scorching heat just to collect their subsidies.
To address these concerns, a resolution is in the works that would initiate a congressional inquiry into the Philippine Statistics Authority’s handling of the national ID system, with particular attention to its budget utilization and the pace of card distribution.
National ID fiasco: What went before
It is a matter of public knowledge that the national ID project was a total failure — not only in terms of inferior card quality and inadequate security features, but also in the timely delivery of the cards. The following is the factual backdrop of this failed project.
On Aug. 6, 2018, RA 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, was signed into law. It established the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) and mandated the distribution of national ID cards to qualified Filipino citizens.
Under the Act, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) was designated as the “primary implementing agency” tasked with carrying out its provisions. However, for reasons known only to the PSA, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) assumed responsibility for the public bidding of the PhilSys project.
On or about Sept.14, 2020, the BSP conducted bidding for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of two lots: Lot 1 covering the lease of card production equipment for three years, and Lot 2 covering the lease of card personalization equipment for four years — including the production of 116 million PhilID cards.
On Sept. 28, 2020, then-BSP governor Benjamin Diokno formally awarded the contract to AllCards Inc. (ACI).
The delivery of all 116 million PhilID plastic cards was supposed to have been completed by the end of 2023. However, ACI allegedly delivered only approximately 50 million cards — a mere 43.2 percent of the contracted volume.
Several complaints were filed against officials of both the BSP and PSA before the Office of the Ombudsman as early as January 2021. To date, these complaints remain unacted upon.
The disorder that marked the fuel subsidy distribution is a direct consequence of the government’s failure to implement a functional national ID system. Had the PhilSys project been delivered as contracted and on time, identifying and reaching legitimate beneficiaries would not have been the obstacle it proved to be. The officials who are responsible for the delays, irregularities and questionable conduct surrounding the PhilSys project must be held criminally accountable.
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