THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) said some jeepney and bus drivers will receive today until tomorrow the “Pantawid Pasada” financial assistance of P6,500.
This was announced by Joemier Pontawe, Project Manager 1 of the DOTr during the hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Energy.
He said about 136,000 drivers will receive their financial assistance through their LandBank card.
Jeepney drivers will be prioritized and the distribution of the financial assistance will be much easier because they have been receiving financial assistance already since 2018 and that the system is already clear and in place.
About 113,000 tricycle drivers and delivery riders, however, will still have to wait for their turn in receiving their financial assistance because further coordination will have to be made with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Trade and Industry as to the exact amount that will be given to them.
Pontawe said the Pantawid Pasada may be received by tricycle drivers and delivery riders within the second quarter of this year.
During the hearing, Senator Shewin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, chided the lack of an exact or even an estimated date as to when tricycle drivers and delivery riders will receive their financial assistance.
He emphasized with the DOTr officials present to inform DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade that having no exact date when the tricycle drivers and delivery riders will get their financial assistance is unacceptable amid the uncertainty in the prices of petroleum products and other essential goods.
Meanwhile, the DOTr said that the funds for the Pantawid Pasada program is guaranteed because aside from the P2.5-billion guaranteed fund under the DOTr budget this year, there is another P5 billion in unprogrammed funds for this, which is also part of the national budget.