Makati to give P2,000-financial aid to city’s tricycle drivers

MANILA, Philippines — The Makati City government is poised to give P2,000-financial assistance to each of the nearly 6,000 tricycle drivers whose jobs were held back due to the suspension of public transport under the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

Good News #Makatizens! I've ordered the release of P2k initial financial assistance for the city’s 5,946 tricycle drivers. This covers the first 2 weeks of the community quarantine.

— Mayora Abby (@Mayora_Abby) March 18, 2020

“I’ve ordered the release of P2K initial financial assistance for the city’s 5,946 tricycle drivers. This covers the first 2 weeks of the community quarantine,” Makati Mayor Abby Binay said in a tweet.

In a separate statement, Binay urged tricycle drivers to wait for instructions on how to claim the financial aid.

Makati’s local chief executive also said the local government will soon announce a separate financial package for its jeepney drivers who were similarly affected by the suspension of the mass transport operations.

Further, Binay assured Makati residents, who were most affected by the community quarantine, that measures are likewise in place to provide assistance to them.

The national government has ordered the suspension of public transport in the region of Luzon as part of the enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

To date, the Philippines has 193 people infected with COVID-19, including 14 deaths and seven recoveries.

READ: ‘Coronavirus cases in PH may peak to 75,000 in 3 months’

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which is related to the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) but is not as deadly, with only around three percent mortality rate.

WHO said 80 percent of patients experience mild illness and eventually recover from the disease, while some 14 percent experience severe illness and five percent become critically ill.

The virus is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when those infected cough or sneeze. Health authorities urge the public to practice frequent hand washing, cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those exhibiting respiratory symptoms to prevent infection.

KGA