Some jeepney drivers are still waiting for cash aid from the government, 5 months into the coronavirus lockdown that has banned them from plying roads and earning a living.

The social welfare department recently asked PISTON jeepney group to submit a masterlist of its members who should get financial help, said the group’s president Mody Floranda.

The agency did not say why PISTON needed to submit a new masterlist when it already gave one to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board months ago, he said.

“Meron na silang batayan para matiyak kung sino ang mabibigyan nila ng SAP o ayuda, pero sa ngayon muli na naman po kaming pinag-a-apply,” Floranda told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.

(They already have a basis to ensure who should be given aid or the social amelioration program, but until now, we are being asked to apply for it again.)

“Para kaming bata na pinaghahanap ng karayom sa gitna ng dayami… Hindi namin makita iyong saan nga ba namin dapat kuhanin, sino nga ba talaga ang dapat magbigay ng tulong sa sektor ng transportasyon,” he added.

(We are like a child being asked to find a needle in a haystack. We can’t see where we should get the aid, and who should help the transportation sector.)

Many jeepney drivers have been forced to return to begging for alms after Metro Manila and 4 surrounding provinces went back under the second strictest lockdown level that bans all modes of public transport, he said.

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The government should allow jeepney drivers to ply the roads again if they will not be given cash aid, said Floranda.

• Jeepney a safe transportation option during the pandemic, doctors say

TeleRadyo, Aug. 11, 2020