Some 55,000 public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers are set to benefit from Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) Tuloy Pasada Program, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Wednesday.

“There is an allocated PHP1.2 billion focused on the drivers. This is just initial. In the discussion, around 55,000. We are talking with our regional directors to see how it will be implemented in each region. Our intention for the other phase is different for each region,” DOLE spokesperson Lennard Serrano said in a television interview.

“In our coordination with LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board], there are four phases,” he said.

Asked on how they will monitor the beneficiaries, Serrano said, “It was discussed that they should continue what they do. In the monitoring, there are TUPAD coordinators point to point who are waiting for them and there will also be TUPAD coordinators who will accompany them. It is important to monitor that their routine trip are really continuing.”

He said they are also looking at other drivers and those who are vulnerable and displaced.

“We are looking at how to help tricycle drivers, boatmen… in the existing TUPAD program, we are looking at who is really vulnerable and displaced. These drivers are just the first. They will also be given all assistance,” Serrano added.

He said they are in talks with operators to find out who would wish to join the program so that they can provide aid.

The TUPAD Tuloy Pasada Program aims to ensure that drivers continue to earn and to keep public transportation services running.

It is part of the government’s coordinated response to the energy emergency pursuant to Executive Order No. 110, which established the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) as a whole-of-government effort. (PNA)