Press Release
June 12, 2020

POE: NO REASON TO DELAY E-CASH AID TO PUV DRIVERS

Cash aid to public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) should no longer face delay with the promised electronic disbursement of the second tranche, Sen. Grace Poe said.

"No delay in the distribution of assistance is justified. No more lives should be put in peril because of the lack of urgency in handing out lifeline to the people," the Senate public services committee chairperson stressed.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is expected to electronically release the SAP's second tranche to about 18 million families under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.

Based on the government's June 8 report, all 98,132 target PUV drivers have received cash aid from the list submitted by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Poe suggested that the DSWD and local government units tap drivers' associations to vet the list of beneficiaries for faster and orderly release of subsidies.

Poe pointed out that aid is vital especially since public utility buses and jeepneys were not yet allowed to ply their routes during Metro Manila's shift to a more relaxed general community quarantine. This has forced some drivers to beg on the streets to have food for their families and for their colleagues.

"By this time, we expect that concerned government agencies have fine-tuned the criteria and system of distribution of cash aid so that it will get to the hands of the drivers in this period of poverty," Poe said.

Poe said the tragic death of Michelle Silvertino, who died on a footbridge after days of trying to catch a ride to the province, should be the last case of help not coming soon enough to save a life.

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