Mobile app giant Grab has reactivated its community-driven initiative, GrabBayanihan amid the global pandemic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV), which causes Coronavirus (covid-19) disease.  In partnership with both public and private sectors, GrabBayanihan is targeting to address three core areas such as:

• offering safe mobility solutions for healthcare workers,
• providing economic security to thousands of driver-partners, and
• providing access to daily essentials while safeguarding the wellbeing of everyone on the platform.

Grab said that with the help of its community of driver-partners, they have provided free, 24-hour transportation service for healthcare workers. The said transport service will ferry up to two (2) healthcare workers at a time, in accordance with the government’s social distancing guidelines. These GrabBayanihan Cars will be marked so that healthcare workers and public order officials can easily distinguish them from other private vehicles. GrabBayanihan Car volunteer driver-partners will also undergo hygiene and infection prevention training and will be provided with the necessary personal protective equipment to safeguard their health and well-being. To reduce the risk of the disease, Each GrabBayanihan Car will have a clear plastic sheet to separate the driver from passengers. Volunteer driver-partners will be receiving a minimum daily income of PhP 550 for 8 hours of service, in addition to PhP 300 in gas vouchers sponsored by oil and gas giants including Unioil, Phoenix Petroleum, Seaoil, and Caltex. In addition, they will receive free communication top-ups from telecommunication leaders Globe and PLDT-Smart. Some 100 GrabBayanihan Car have been initially alloted—with official approval from the IATF. Interested health workers are encouraged to approach their hospital administrators to request for the GrabBayanihan Car service for the entire hospital. Hospital administrators may fill up https://go.grab.com/grabbayanihan to indicate their interest to join the ride service. A Grab representative will be in touch with the hospital to help them set up the service. Aside from that, around fifty (50) GrabWheels e-scooters have been deployed to city governments of Manila, Quezon City, San Juan, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Marikina, and Pasig. To note, Grab has more than 300 e-scooters that are ready for deployment to other LGUs, should the need for a mobility solution arise. Alternative income Following the suspension of public transport (which made a big impact on both drivers and the company), Grab will provide alternative income opportunities to driver-partners by opening the GrabFood and GrabExpress.  Starting this week, Grab will host virtual training sessions to onboard driver-partners onto GrabFood and GrabExpress. "Additionally, we are extending driver loyalty tier qualification for the duration of the quarantine - no driver will lose their benefits by missing qualification targets due to the quarantine," Grab noted in its statement. They have also secured loan payment breaks for driver-partners with PSBank, EastWest Bank, BDO, Security Bank, BPI, RCBC, Union Bank, Robinsons Bank, Metrobank, UCPB and Toyota Financial Services. Likewise, Grab has rolled out preliminary assistance programs in the form of financial and medical assistance, and an emergency loan fund for GrabCar driver-partners severely affected by the recent transport suspension.

Safeguarding Everyone's Wellbeing

To ensure that in social distancing is followed, Grab introduced a new Contactless Delivery Option that limits contact between consumers and delivery-partners. Consumers are encouraged to pay using cashless methods and opt for contactless delivery by informing delivery-partners to drop off the order outside the door or at specific locations using GrabChat. Grab also encourages merchant and delivery partners to set up contactless takeaway stations for delivery-partners so that they can pick up orders without coming into contact with restaurant staff. Merchants are also encouraged to conduct regular temperature checks, increase cleaning frequency of food and preparation areas and delivery-bags, and more. To encourage greater cashless adoption and to avoid the spread of COVID-19 through the exchange of cash, GrabRewards points will only be applied to services paid through GrabPay. GrabRewards points that would have been earned from cash transactions will go towards supporting GrabBayaninhan efforts. Additionally, Grab partnered with Red Cross where consumers can use their GrabRewards points to donate for our healthcare frontliners. “More than a public health crisis, the COVID-19 outbreak has been a call for all sectors to band together for the common goal of providing meaningful services to the Filipino people. For us at Grab, the last few weeks have been a testament to our innate ability to innovate for all and to use our platform to help our community endure this period of uncertainty and disruption. We hope that now more than ever, other players will help carry out this vision of bayanihan while preventing the spread of COVID-19,” Grab Philippines President Brian Cu said.  

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