500 ACTO drivers get cash aid; promise lady solon they won't join transport strike
DUMPER-PTDA Party-list Rep. Claudine Bautista
House Transportation Committee Vice Chairperson DUMPER-PTDA Party-list Rep. Claudine Bautista facilitated on Tuesday, July 18 the dole out of cash aid worth P2,000 each to over 500 public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers in Barangay 902, Sta. Ana, Manila. The cash assistance was sourced from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its assistance to individual in crisis situation (AICS) program. Bautista assured the jeepney drivers that the government still has their back, even after they were allowed to return to their respective routes after being sidelined for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The driver-beneficiaries belonged to the Alliance of Concern Transport Organization (ACTO). They were required to bring documents to show that they were indeed qualified for AICS. The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to Bautista, who told them that the program would continue so they may ne able to cope with the rising prices of basic commodities and oil prices. Meanwhile, the ACTO drivers promised the lady lawmaker that they won't join Manibela's call for a three-day jeepney strike next week, beginning on Monday, July 24. The drivers said they would rather act as partners of the goverment in conveying the public. President Ferdinand "Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) will take place on Monday. Bautista said that while she respects Manibela's position on certain issues, calling for a transport stoppage will not help solve the problems. Instead, the strike will only become a huge headache to the riding public. "We can sit down with agencies concerned, and settle this problem in proper manner," Bautista said.