The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has started distributing the P5,000 cash relief assistance to 47,000 tricycle drivers in Western Visayas.
At the payout venue in the town of Barotac Nuevo in Iloilo Province, at least 2,000 drivers received the aid, one of whom is John Dolutan.
“Malaking tulong sa aming pamilya. Makakabili kami ng gasolina, makakabili kami ng para sa loob ng bahay,” he said.
In the past, tricycle drivers budget P200 for gasoline but this has doubled since the prices of fuel started going up in February.
Joselito Estember, Director of DSWD-6, said they hope to complete the payout to tricycle drivers in the next seven days so that they can give attention to other sectors.
“We target na by next week hanggang Thursday ang payout (next week) kasi magsa-start na naman kami sa other sectors… PUJ and marami pang sectors na waiting,” Estember said.
Aside from the drivers, at least 450 farmers and fishermen in Iloilo City received the P2,325 presidential assistance on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the government targets to provide assistance to the following sectors in April:
- 329,000 rice and corn farmers
- 12,500 sugarcane farmers
- 38,000 fishermen
The government is providing aid to different sectors in the hope of augmenting the income of workers amid the skyrocketing prices of fuel triggered by the tensions in the Middle East.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope as prices of petroleum products may roll back in the coming days, the Department of Energy said.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that five days before the new prices of petroleum products get implemented, the department make computations to try to determine if there will be a price rollback or a price hike.
The price in the world market has reportedly decreased in the last three days.
“Pero yung tatlong araw na iyon, medyo nag-steady ang presyo na mababa. So hopefully, hindi na siya umakyat today at bukas,” Garin said on April 16.
According to oil industry sources, there is a possibility that the price of diesel may go down by P13 to P15 per liter and the price of gasoline may go down by P1 to P2 per liter.
