LUCKY are those who live in a place like Caloocan City wherein the local government has been finding ways to extend the much-needed assistance and support amid the soaring fuel costs triggered by the ongoing Middle East war.
Mayor Along Malapitan announced that the city government has partnered with the various local tricycle and jeepney transport groups to provide free rides for the commuters in exchange for financial subsidy with the goal of sustaining their regular income.
“We simply wanted to think of several measures including this one to alleviate the plight of the transportation sector due to the continuous fuel price hikes in local gas stations and at the same time, help our affected commuters.”
The ‘Libreng Sakay’ program, which began last week, would be available during traffic rush hours – 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. wherein members of participating tricycle operators’ and drivers’ associations would stand to receive P695 for four hours of service per day.
The son of former long-time Caloocan mayor and now District 1 Rep. Oscar Malapitan reiterated the local government’s full support to provide assistance to city-based public transportation providers as he ensured that additional programs would be implemented in anticipation of further surges in fuel prices.
The younger Malapitan said similar schemes would be carried out in the coming days involving jeepney organizations.
222 students get P10K incentives
A total of 222 students from Grade 6, 10, and 12 from various public schools have received P10,000 each as cash incentive for attaining highest honors.
The cash incentive program was one of the city government’s ways of acknowledging the efforts made by the top performing students in their studies.
“It’s been a consistent practice by the city government under my administration which was also aimed at inspiring others to follow suit.”
Affirming his commitment to further assist them in pursuing their dreams in the future, Malapitan likewise declared that improving the quality of education across all school levels in the city is still one of the most important priorities of his administration.
