CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 10 April) – Around 1,600 motorela drivers in the city on Wednesday received P5,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 10 and another P2,000 from the city government to help them cope with soaring fuel prices triggered by the war waged by the US and Israel on Iran.
The assistance came after the city government declared a state of energy emergency last Monday and released P441 million in calamity funds for affected drivers and residents.
It is meant to cushion the impact of the crisis and prevent a repeat of what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected several businesses and the livelihoods of drivers and workers.
“This is enough for my family to survive for one or two weeks. I hope fuel prices will go down by that time,” said 64-year-old Nestor Sadura, who still drives his own motorela, showing the crisp P1,000 bills he received.
Sadura and fellow motorela drivers received P5,000 in cash assistance under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.
Another motorela operator, Rodan Almoano, said the P7,000 assistance would only sustain his family of five for about two weeks.
“My eldest is a high school student, and my wife has no work because she is tending to the children,” Almoano said.
He said that before the war on Iran erupted on February 28, motorela drivers could earn up to P1,000 a day due to lower fuel costs.
“Now, with gasoline at P100 per liter, drivers earn only about P400 a day,” he said.
He added that drivers who do not own their units are worse off, as they have to pay about P250 daily in rental fees.
The DSWD Region 10 also distributed P5,000 each to drivers not just in Cagayan de Oro, but also in the cities of El Salvador and Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, Malaybalay and Valencia in Bukidnon, and Tangub, Oroquieta, and Ozamiz in Misamis Occidental.
City Councilor Eric Salcedo admitted that the combined P7,000 assistance from the city government and the DSWD is not enough to sustain the needs of drivers and operators.
“We need to support them in a sustainable way. Otherwise, the LGU (local government unit) and government agencies will run out of funds if this war drags on,” Salcedo said.
The City Council also approved a new fare matrix allowing motorela drivers to charge a P14 minimum fare for regular commuters and P11 for students, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.
City Councilor Marlon Tabac said operators of transport cooperatives were not included in the assistance package from the LGU and DSWD.
Tabac said all 42 transport cooperatives of modern jeepneys in the city are now operating at only 50 percent of their fleets.
“They operate only half of their fleets, and some units have even stopped using air-conditioning to save on fuel, to the detriment of the riding public,” he said.
Abigail Malalis, a board member of the Canitoan Transport Cooperative, said only five of their 11 modern jeepneys are currently plying the Canitoan–Cogon route in the city.
Malalis said the cooperative has implemented a “rotational scheme” for drivers after diesel prices hit P150 per liter last Tuesday.
A federation of modern jeepney cooperatives has temporarily suspended operations over the weekend as diesel prices surged to P150 per liter. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
