By Brian Campued
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have set up “Help Teams” to consolidate and verify the list of public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers in Metro Manila who did not receive their P5,000 cash relief assistance on March 25.
The on-ground teams were deployed in various cities in the National Capital Region in coordination with local government units (LGUs) and Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (JODA), pursuant to DSWD Sec. Rex Gatchalian’s earlier directive to thoroughly review all records and account for those public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers who were initially left out in the beneficiary list.
The “Help Teams,” composed of DSWD personnel and partner agencies, conducted live deduplication of driver-beneficiary lists to address discrepancies, such as duplicate entries, incorrect details, misspelled names, and missing identities.
This is to ensure that only verified drivers are included in the clean list for the special payout, which is expected to begin after the observance of Holy Week.
“Alinsunod sa naunang pahayag ni Secretary Rex Gatchalian, ang ating mga help teams po ay nakatutok sa pakikipag-ugnayan sa bawat LGU at JODA upang matiyak na ang bawat kwalipikadong tsuper ay mahanap at maisama sa listahan,” DSWD spokesperson Asec. Irene Dumlao said in a news release Tuesday.
“Layunin ng mga Help Teams na mabuo natin ang isang malinis at verified list of drivers. Matapos po nito, agad nating isasagawa ang special payout para mabigyan ng tulong ang mga hindi nakasama sa naunang batch,” Dumlao added.
She likewise assured the DSWD’s steadfast commitment to delivering much-needed relief and assistance to the sectors affected by the rise in fuel prices caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
In a press briefing Monday, Gatchalian disclosed that over 250,000 PUV drivers have received P5,000 under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), including 22,031 jeepney drivers.
Meanwhile, the supplemental list from tricycle operators and drivers associations (TODAs) is expected to be submitted on April 1, covering unserved tricycle drivers.
The DSWD likewise continues to engage transport network companies (TNCs) and operators to secure complete and updated lists of transport network vehicle service (TNVS) and motorcycle taxi drivers as well as service delivery riders.
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