Continuing their mission of alleviating suffering and inspiring people in the country, the Philippine chapter of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation distributed rice and grocery items to some 971 members of four (4) of the City’s tricycle and jeepney operator and driver associations last November 22, 2020.

Among the recipients of the rice and grocery items are as follows: 258 jeepney drivers from the Karuhatan – Gen. T. de Leon - Ugong Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (KARTUJODA), 240 jeepney drivers from the Malinta - Valenzuela - Novaliches Operators and Drivers Association, Inc. (MAVANODA) and the Malinta - Caloocan - Novaliches Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, Inc. (MACANOJODA).

Further, 268 tricycle drivers from the Veinte Reales - Lingunan Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (VRLTODA) and 205 tricycle drivers from the Canumay West Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (CAWETODA) also received the donation.

In addition to two-10 kilogram bags of rice each, the recipients were also given grocery packs containing spaghetti sauce, pasta noodles, cooking oil, iodized rock salt, raw sugar, condensed milk, multi-grain instant mix, cane vinegar, soy sauce, toothpaste, toothbrush,  and detergent bar.

Beneficiaries likewise received “new normal essentials” such as face masks and face shields during the Foundation’s Mid-Year Relief Operations held at the Valenzuela City People’s Park Amphitheater.

Staff from the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), City Engineering Office, Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG), Bantay Bayan, and the Valenzuela People’s Park assisted the Tzu Chi volunteers to ensure the smooth and orderly relief distribution and to see to it that social distancing is strictly observed.

Tzu Chi Foundation is an international non-profit humanitarian organization established in Taiwan by Dharma Master Cheng Yen back in 1966. For more than five (5) decades now, it has been “delivering compassionate relief to victims of natural and man-made calamities” all over the world.

Its local chapter, Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines, was inaugurated in 1994 and has since been accepting numerous recognitions for its exemplary relief work.

Since August 2020, Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines has been handing out rice and other daily essentials to displaced jeepney and tricycle drivers in the hopes of providing them aid and helping them survive the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation has also conducted relief operations in the cities of Antipolo, Marikina, and Mandaluyong.

More than 400 jeepney drivers from Valenzuela and Caloocan City have already received rice and grocery items from Tzu Chi Foundation on August 30 and 31. Last October 8, Tzu Chi gave away rice and other daily staples to more than 400 tricycle drivers through a simple ceremony held at the Lingunan Sports Center.

Help for TODAs and JODAs

For its part, the City Government of Valenzuela has been lending a hand to the TODA and JODA members who have been greatly affected by the unexpected and untimely spread of COVID-19.

During the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the City Council enacted the "Tigil Pasada, Tigil Multa" Ordinances for pedicabs, tricycles, and e-tricycles. These ordinances waived the penalties and surcharges for the late renewal of registration of pertinent permits and identification cards for public and private-owned pedicabs, tricycles, and e-trikes.

Last June, Mayor REX Gatchalian took time to personally visited seven (7) jeepney terminals in the City and checked on the condition of the drivers. In a four-week span, the City Government was able to distribute 6,296 food packs to 1,574 jeepney drivers and operators in the City.

From August 20-29, the CSWDO also hired 869 jeepney operators and drivers for the Department of Social Welfare and Development or DSWD’s Cash-for-Work Program. For ten (10) days, the jeepney drivers swept streets, dredged creeks and canals and earned PhP 500 daily.

The City Government of Valenzuela also approved Ordinance No. 710, Series of 2020, or the "Pasabuy sa TODA Ordinance," enticing TODA drivers to temporarily engage in online delivery services through Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) with JoyRide, Happy Move PH and Food Panda Philippines, Incorporated. This helped provide Valenzuela TODA members livelihood opportunities through online pasabuy food delivery system.