LTFRB-7 validating PUV drivers’ list in C. Visayas for P6K aid

LTFRB-7 Director Eduardo Montealto says they are validating their list of public utlility drivers so that they can turn this over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the P6,000 aid under the social amelioration program.| CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) has now started validating their list of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in the region.

This is to endorse the list of PUV drivers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for them to avail the P6,000 financial assistance under the social amelioration program.

Read more: DSWD-7 targets 1.3M families to receive P6K financial assistance

LTFRB-7 Regional Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said that they were asking transport cooperatives and corporations to submit the list of their drivers to the agency.

“Ang tanan namo nga kuan, i-cross match didto sa DSWD. Dayon ang DSWD mao nay mo-distribute. Ang amoa kato rang checklist kay kami ra man nakabalo kinsa to’ng mga drivers,” Montealto said.

(All names of drivers that we have will be cross matched with the DSWD list. Then it would be the DSWD that will distribute the assistance. Our job is just to supply the list because we are the ones who knows who are the drivers.)

Read more: DSWD: Beneficiaries to receive cash aid in full

Montealto, however, clarified that they already had an existing list of PUV drivers in their database, but they would only want to ensure that these drivers were still employed by their operators.

“Kami, duna na mi mga existing daan nga mga pangalan sa drivers. Ang amo lang gi-check didto sa mga cooperative ug corporation ug kining ilang mga drivers sa una ug mao ba gihapon karon. So dunay uban nga wala na, nga nibalhin na ug laing region,” he said.

(We already have an existing list of names of drivers. What we are doing is we are checking with the cooperatives and corporations if these drivers are still working for them. So there are others who have transferred to other regions.)

Under the social amelioration program, PUV drivers are one of the beneficiaries who will receive the assistance after their operation has been temporarily suspended due to the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) because of the COVID-19  (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.

Montealto said that the region has around 28,000 PUV drivers.