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Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
March 27, 2026 | 12:00am
A transport network vehicle service driver poses with P5,000 in cash aid and his identification card at the Quezon City Memorial Circle yesterday.
Michael Varcas
CEBU, Philippines — All eligible public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers will receive the government’s cash relief assistance, Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian vowed on Wednesday as the DSWD meets with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to address gaps in beneficiary lists.
“The list came from LTFRB. Like what we announced many times, the role of the DSWD is to make sure that whatever list is provided to us by the LTFRB, they will receive financial assistance,” Gatchalian said during his visit to the payout site in Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.
However, the DSWD chief acknowledged gaps in the said list, noting complaints from PUV drivers across multiple payout sites.
To address the issue, Secretary Gatchalian said the DSWD will coordinate with the LTFRB and local government units to validate and consolidate the names of unlisted drivers and facilitate special payout schedules.
For transport network vehicle service (TNVS) drivers, Gatchalian pointed to incomplete submissions from transport network companies, particularly the exclusion of so-called “temporary” or “tempo” drivers.
For PUJ drivers, the DSWD chief said a similar validation process will be undertaken in coordination with the LTFRB and LGUs, with added help from jeepney operators and drivers’ associations to identify those excluded from the lists.
To expedite the process, Secretary Gatchalian said special assessment teams will be deployed to LGUs this week.
Gatchalian said that as of 12 noon on March 25, about 13,737 of 23,643 target PUJ drivers across Metro Manila had already received cash relief assistance.
In Quezon City – the largest payout site – 3,064 out of 4,687 beneficiaries have already been served.
Meanwhile, both Muntinlupa and Marikina have postponed their schedules and requested later implementation dates.
Gatchalian warned the public against fraudulent text messages impersonating DSWD personnel and urging beneficiaries to apply through a provided link to avail of the cash assistance.
Cut ASEAN hosting cost
In Congress, Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste filed yesterday House Resolution No. 911 urging President Marcos to cut the P22.8-billion budget for the country’s hosting this year of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit to P10 billion, and allocate the remaining balance to address the worsening oil crisis.
Any savings from the ASEAN budget, according to Leviste, could be “used to support and expand the government’s ongoing responses to rising fuel prices while also setting an example of fiscal discipline across government.”
The 2025 GAA appropriated P5.4 billion for ASEAN 2026 preparations, while the 2026 GAA appropriated P17,495,734,000.
Leviste proposed that the government aim to reduce the total cost of ASEAN 2026 to no more than P10 billion, citing that for the Philippines’ hosting of ASEAN in 2017, P16.747 billion had been allocated but only P8.572 billion, or 51 percent, was used. He also noted that the Philippines’ hosting of APEC 2015 reportedly had a budget of P9.8 billion.
Meanwhile, youth group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan yesterday urged President Marcos to expand Executive Order 110 and include measures that would ease the burden on students amid rising energy costs. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Delon Porcalla
