Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4) — Monitoring teams descend on Metro Manila on Monday as officials race to meet a 15-day deadline to hand out cash or food aid to constituents greatly affected by stricter quarantine rules.
The enhanced community quarantine enters its second week Monday as authorities extend the draconian regime that was reimposed anew, as the daily tally of coronavirus infections tops the 10,000 mark.
But the ₱23-billion emergency subsidy, initially targeted for distribution within the NCR Plus bubble on April 1, has yet to reach vulnerable groups.
Timetables have been pushed back as the mostly Catholic nation observed Holy Week and government offices were shut.
President Duterte’s inter-agency task force decided on the doleouts just last March 29 –- the day the ECQ took effect –- while the directive from the Department of Budget and Management for the Bureau of the Treasury to transfer funds to local government units was released on March 31 as budget authorities scrambled to look for a funding source.
“The budget for the subsidy will be transferred from the Bureau of the Treasury to the LGU account by tomorrow (Monday),” Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in an interview on Sunday.
The emergency subsidy, at ₱1,000 each for millions of beneficiaries, will be given either in cash or in kind. City officials were directed to write an executive order detailing which route they will take in the distribution and were given 15 days to deliver them to targeted households, Densing said.
The latest tranche is the third in a series of cash aid programs that began in April last year. At ₱1,000 per affected person at a maximum of four per household, the subsidy is by far the smallest as financing was squeezed from whatever was left from unutilized funds from Bayanihan 2, the Budget department last week said.
With the list of beneficiaries last year drawn up by the Department of Social Welfare and Development as basis for the rollout, local executives did not have to begin from scratch.
“The DSWD has sent the beneficiary listing to us already… Hopefully if we get the funds Monday, we can begin distributing by Tuesday,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said Saturday.
“DSWD will only help us with final list, but it will be LGU distributing, so mas mabilis na po [so it will be quicker],” Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano said.
San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, meanwhile, said some kinks have to be ironed out.
“Hindi ganon kabilis ‘yan dahil base sa guidelines na ito, we really have to sort kung sino magiging recipients natin. Options po are ₱1,000 per person or a maximum of ₱4,000 per family. We still have to determine sino ba ‘yung members ng family na ito, baka sumobra na sa ₱4,000,” Zamora said over the weekend.
[Translation: The process wouldn’t be that swift, because based on the guidelines, we really have to sort out the recipients. The options are ₱1,000 per person or a maximum of ₱4,000 per family. We still have to determine who the members of the family are, otherwise there might be an excess in the provision of cash aid.]
The DILG will be joining audit teams that will keep watch over barangay officials to avoid a repeat of last year’s mistakes, when at least 300 local officials faced charges of graft at the Ombudsman. The teams will be composed of representatives from the DSWD, the Philippine National Police and civil society organizations.
“Una sa lahat, sa local government, required natin sila na via executive order na maglagay sila ng appeals process o appeals committee dun sa mga taong hindi mabibigyan pero qualified naman sila,” Densing said.
[Translation: First of all, local governments are required by an executive order to create an appeal process or appeals committee for qualified beneficiaries who aren’t able to receive aid.]
“Meron pong team na titingin dyan para masigurado kung merong complaint na hindi sila nakasama o dapat kasama o merong nangungupit, meron silang pagsusumbungan.”
[Translation: There’s a team that would look into complaints, such as when residents aren’t included in the list when they should’ve been, or if there are instances of corruption, they have someone to run to.]
CNN Philippines Correspondent Crissy Dimatulac contributed to this report.
