Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16) — Makati City will be distributing P50 million worth of grocery vouchers to middle-class residents, said Mayor Abby Binay.
She said each family will get P500 worth of grocery voucher, with the middle-class residents who live in low-end condominiums as initial beneficiaries.
“We really need to make a targeted distribution of the vouchers,” she told CNN Philippines Thursday. “But this is on top of our existing relief packs being released.”
Binay said the money for the cash amelioration program is already with the city government and they hope to distribute it by Monday. She added that the list of beneficiaries should be checked multiple times, otherwise the money has to be returned.
The city will also be partnering with a private company in paying for the cremation of people who died of COVID-19, added Binay.
The crematorium can only accommodate five remains a day. But the mayor said it is a big help for families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.
“We are still waiting for the assistance of the DSWD which still hasn’t come,” she said. “We are advancing it for the cremation.”
Mass testing to start Monday
Meanwhile, the city government, together with the Philippine Red Cross, will also start mass testing for COVID-19 next week. Priorities will be given to persons under investigation (PUIs), persons under monitoring (PUMs), and frontliners.
“We plan to start on Monday,” Binay disclosed. “Our target is 2,000 people, so hopefully we’ll start on Monday. With the promise of Red Cross, the test results will come very, very quickly.”
She said that barangays are requesting for their frontliners to be tested as well.
“Hopefully, we’ll be done with our mass testing prior to the lifting of the lockdown,” she added.
