MANILA, Philippines – Tricycle drivers registered with the Makati City government are set to receive an initial P2,000 cash assistance each in the wake of the Luzon-wide lockdown.

Makati Mayor Abby Binay said on Wednesday, March 18, that the money will be given to 5,952 duly registered tricycle drivers in the country’s premiere business district. That’s equivalent to P11.904 million of Makati’s budget. 

“We empathize with the plight of our tricycle drivers who are now unable to earn for the daily subsistence of their own families due to the suspension of public transport operations nationwide. This initial cash relief is intended to help tide them over for the next two weeks,” Binay said in a statement. 

Tricycle drivers will soon be informed about how they will get the money. Binay said they are also preparing a financial package for jeepney drivers in Makati.  

Even before President Rodrigo Duterte placed Luzon island under lockdown, Binay already placed Makati under a state of calamity after the city recorded a total of 14 patients who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. 

The mayor said on Tuesday, March 17, that one patient who had been confined at the Makati Medical Center has already recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged from the hospital.

The city also deployed buses to ferry Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) workers for free. The routes include Puregold to OsMak and vice versa, LRT Buendia station to Osmak and vice versa, and Waterfun C5 to Osmak and vice versa. 

As of 11 am on Wednesday, the Philippines has tallied a total of 193 cases of COVID-19, 14 of which were fatal. At least 7 patients have recovered. – Rappler.com