For Cebu tricycle drivers, P5,000 aid will only last a week

CEBU, Philippines – ​​As the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) began distributing cash aid to public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in the provinces, some tricycle drivers in Cebu City said the assistance would only cover about a week’s worth of food and fuel.

At the Cebu City Sports Institute Gym on Wednesday, April 8, more than 600 tricycle drivers waited in line to each receive P5,000 in subsidy meant to ease the impact of the fuel-price increases as a result of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

One tricycle driver, Leonardo Atillo, said he can only do so much with the aid as costs to ferry passengers to their destinations take up a large portion of his daily earnings.

On average, Atillo earns P800 a day and spends P300 on fuel. His remaining earnings are reduced further by a daily P250 tricycle rental fee and roughly P150 for food.

If he’s lucky, he said he goes home with at least P100 after a day’s hard work.

“Dili gyud. Di ma sakto (It’s really not enough),” Atillo told Rappler, adding that the subsidy will only last him a week to pay for food and gas. 

The tricycle driver, who currently provides for his parents, shared that he was left with no choice but to ask his mother to start a small business to help make both ends meet. 

Like Atillo, Mario Gemal said a series of fuel-price increases has forced people like him to find new ways to cope with the rising cost of living. For the Gemals, that means spending less on food, often by pairing rice with soups instead of meat.

At present, Gemal earns an average of P800 a day and spends less than P600 on fuel. This leaves him with more than P200 to spare for food and take-home pay.

“Kini ang pinakalisod… Mas dako ang gasto karon panahona. Sauna, makatug paka hayang. Karon, di na ka makatug og maghayang. Maghunahuna ka sa mga problema,” Gemal said. 

(This is the most difficult period… Expenses have gone up. Before, you could sleep soundly. Now, you can’t just lie down and rest – you keep thinking about your problems.)

He and his wife, Rosalita, said it has become increasingly difficult to pay their youngest child’s college tuition amid rising gas prices. Gemal, a senior citizen, lamented how much has changed.

In the past, the tricycle driver said, he could support his two other children through college on his previous earnings.

The couple said that, because of recent oil price surges, they have had to reduce their youngest child’s daily allowance in anticipation of lower earnings in the coming weeks.

Romeo Lamo, a tricycle driver who drives around Quiot Basak, told Rappler that his family’s total income has significantly decreased due to the current fuel prices. Lamo shares the responsibility of providing for his family with his child who works at a call center agency. 

“Sa una, ‘kita mi P700. Karon, pinakaubos na lang ‘nang P400, P300 (Before, we would earn P700. Now, we earn the lowest at around P400, P300),” Lamo said.

Lamo said the P5,000-aid he just received would be spent for a week’s worth of food for his family. He rushed out of the cash distribution center because he said he still needed to work. 

With tricycle fares unchanged, drivers remain among the most vulnerable in the public transportation sector. A P5,000 payout covers barely a week, forcing many of them and their families to seek other sources of income as gas prices climb. – Gwyneth Antonio/Rappler.com

Gwyneth Antonio is a Cebu-based Rappler intern and a senior anthropology student at University of San Carlos.