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'Lugaw is essential': Grab PH takes up cudgels for riders; taps witty promo code

Philippines | National

'Lugaw is essential': Grab PH takes up cudgels for riders; taps witty promo code

By Alexandria Dennise San Juan

Grab Philippines has come to the defense of its food delivery riders--the unsung hero for "NCR-plus" residents amid the prevailing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the area.

GRAB/ FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN

"Let us give thanks to all our Grab riders na tuloy lang sa paghatid ng ating (who continue to deliver our) essential needs and for always following rules and guidelines whenever, wherever!" Grab said in its Facebook post on Wednesday, March 31.

This post came after a video of a GrabFood rider's unfortunate experience in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan went viral. In the video, the rider, who was supposed to deliver "lugaw" (rice porridge) to a customer was stopped by barangay officials.

A female person was then seen schooling the rider about government guidelines as it pertained to the ECQ. She also repeatedly said that, while food deliveries were allowed, lugaw was an exception since for her, lugaw wasn't considered essential.

Grab refuted this in its Facebook post with simple logic, saying "if food is essential, and lugaw is food, therefore, ."

In a stroke of marketing genius, Grab also used the phrase "LUGAWISESSENTIAL" as a promo code for free GrabFood deliveries.

Following the incident, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Sec. Ramon Lopez reiterated that food delivery services were "allowed 24/7 and even past curfew."

On March 27, Roque said that delivery and courier services transporting food, medicine, or other essential goods will be allowed amid the ECQ implementation.

NCR-plus refers to the National Capital Region (NCR), Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

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