President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the release of funds worth P3.78 billion for low-income households in areas under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), an official from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Thursday.
In a message to reporters, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said this includes P2.72 billion for Laguna and HP700 million for Bataan.
These two provinces were placed under the strictest quarantine status on Aug. 6 and 8, respectively.
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region (NCR) will also receive a P368 million supplemental budget for the financial assistance.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año earlier sought a supplemental budget of P278 million to ensure that all qualified recipients in the NCR will receive the national government’s financial assistance.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier released an initial P10.8 billion for the grant of cash aid to qualified recipients in Metro Manila, which is under ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20.
Local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila started the cash aid distribution on Wednesday. Under the guidelines on aid distribution set by the DILG, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of National Defense, they have 15 days to complete the aid distribution process and must ensure that health and safety protocols are being observed.
Each qualified resident in ECQ areas will receive cash assistance of P1,000 each or up to a maximum of P4,000 per family.
The Makati City government on Thursday announced it has already given out 52 percent of the state-funded P511.98 million cash assistance to 233,679 qualified residents on the first day of distribution.
Mayor Abigail Binay said the distribution was made via electronic cash transfer to avoid mass gatherings and to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We wanted to make the distribution of cash aid contactless and convenient. We are glad that we achieved a 52-percent utilization rate in just one day, without the long queues and crowds that would have put everyone at risk of getting infected with COVID,” she said.
In Quezon City, Mayor Joy Belmonte issued guidelines for the proper conduct of humanitarian services and distribution of financial aid, in order to ensure that public health protocols are observed and that peace and order is maintained.
She said handing-out donations in kind, such as food and household supplies, should be done in a strictly door-to-door manner.
Donor groups must be composed of only five individuals who must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and should be accompanied by five representatives from the city government, police or barangay.
Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, renewed his appeal for the use of digital technology to make the distribution of government subsidies easier and safer.
“We should attach the QR code to digital wallets, so that every time we give assistance, we don’t need to go house to house. If every Filipino is using a QR code, then we can send the cash aid easily,” Cayetano said.
He said aside from cash assistance, the QR code could contain other information like vaccination status and even the national ID.
Meanwhile, Cayetano pushed the government to be proactive in addressing the pandemic, saying it has been in apparent denial of the situation.
“The problem with the in-denial mindset is that they think COVID-19 is short and that it will end soon. When the vaccines arrived, we thought this pandemic had ended … Start being proactive. Don’t solve yesterday’s problems today,” he said.
Cayetano said the government has been merely reactive to COVID-19 and did not act swiftly enough to curb the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.