Six weeks into the Middle East crisis, the government is just starting to roll out subsidies for sectors other than the hard-hit mass transport drivers and operators.

The subsidies are in lieu of the promised suspension of the fuel excise tax, which President Marcos asked Congress for special powers to implement, and which the legislature granted with record speed.

But the President has listened to his economic team and changed his mind, deciding to hold on to all fuel taxes including the larger 12-percent value-added tax, and suspending only the excise tax on cooking gas.

Instead the government is doling out subsidies, first to jeepney drivers and operators, followed by tricycle drivers, and promising to expand the aid to other sectors.

While welcoming any aid in the ongoing national energy emergency, the recipients themselves – along with business groups – are pressing for fuel tax cuts, this time to include the heftier 12 percent EVAT.

This is not only because of the uncertainty over the sustainability of cash subsidies, but also because of the inefficiency of aid distribution.

Images of the subsidy payouts show beneficiaries waiting in long lines for their P5,000. In one instance, tricycle drivers waited in a looping line perhaps a kilometer long at the Quezon Memorial Circle, with no shade in the pounding summer heat, without seats for resting during their interminable wait.

This problem had manifested itself from the start, when the early beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy for public utility vehicle drivers had to wait for hours for their P5,000, causing them to miss their drive for half or even the entire day. Commuters were stranded by the consequent drop in the number of PUVs plying busy routes.

Apart from the beneficiaries losing their day’s earnings to line up for their subsidy, there were PUV drivers and operators who complained that they were excluded from the payouts. The still incomplete rollout of the national identification system has slowed down the distribution of targeted subsidies.

Yesterday, Malacañang ordered transport and other agencies to coordinate with local government units for a seamless rollout of the subsidies. The government must prevent the aid program from aggravating public suffering.