Cash aid for displaced drivers included in Bayanihan 2, says Poe

The proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act will include various assistance to public utility drivers who had been displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Grace Poe said on Wednesday.

"For the public utility vehicles, we have allotted a certain amount so that government will be able to do service contracting for the displaced drivers, and then we also put in, but this will go through DSWD, an allowance for the drivers that has been displaced," Poe, a member of the bicam for Bayanihan 2, said during a virtual Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

"Aside from that there is also the fuel vouchers that will be given out to drivers that are affected," she added.

The Senate's version of the bill provides for a P17 billion allocation for critically impacted businesses in the transportation industry.

The House version, on the other hand, earmarked P10 billion for the transport sector.

Chairing the Senate committee on public services, Poe said she was disappointed that out of the 400,000 names submitted by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for assistance in previous months, only about 10 percent received aid.

"Kaya nga hindi nakakapagtaka na maraming namamalimos sa kalsada," Poe said.

The P162-billion Bayanihan 2 bill is expected to be ratified on Thursday afternoon.