Tabuk city: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Cordillera region announced that 1,187 tricycle drivers in Tabuk City, Kalinga, have received cash relief assistance (CRA) of PHP5,000 each. This initiative is designed to alleviate the financial strain caused by rising oil prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
According to Philippines News Agency, Enrique Gascon, the acting director of DSWD-Cordillera, stated that the list of beneficiaries was provided by the city government, which oversees the regulation of tricycle operations. "We first had a payout for the qualified beneficiaries in the cities within the region, but Baguio does not have tricycles, so we are limited to Tabuk," Gascon explained in an interview.
Tricycle drivers are required to present their valid original driver's license and a photocopy with three sample signatures to the social workers for verification. Gascon emphasized that drivers must appear in person to receive the aid, ensuring that the listed beneficiary is the one who directly benefits from the assistance. "The CRA for tricycle is intended for the drivers, and personally receiving it would presume that they are the ones who benefited from the assistance," he added.
The aid distribution for tricycle drivers in other municipalities is scheduled for April 16. Gascon noted, "As of April 6, at least 6,000 tricycle driver beneficiaries have been encoded, and we are continuing to prepare the list for cross-matching to ensure there is no duplication by the date of payout."
As of Monday, the DSWD-Cordillera has registered over 1,000 beneficiaries in Benguet; 1,053 in Mountain Province, including the capital town Bontoc; 370 in Apayao; 1,738 in Abra; 1,900 in Ifugao; and 100 in Kalinga. Gascon mentioned that the department has not set a limit on the number of beneficiaries, with PHP30 billion allocated nationwide for the CRA. "We hope there will still be funds for the other transport sectors, but as of now, the first beneficiaries are tricycle drivers," he concluded.
