TIMELINE: The COVID-19 response money trail
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9) — President Rodrigo Duterte has projected that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic could linger and severely affect the nation for up to two years.
The President made the statement in a briefing held with Cabinet officials aired in the wee hours on Thursday.
“Kapag hindi naayos itong COVID-19, mapurnada talaga tayong lahat. Huwag ninyong madaliin,” Duterte said.
[Translation: If we do not handle COVID-19 well, it would not really serve us any good. Let’s not rush things.]
“Itong COVID na ito, sinusundan ko talaga,” Duterte said. “Ako ang pinakaunang nag-lockdown kasi nasusundan ko na ang istorya.”
[Translation: I followed how COVID developed. I was the first to declare a lockdown because I was able to follow the story.]
The President approved on Tuesday the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to extend the quarantine to 11:59 pm of April 30 to further contain the spread of the coronavirus. Under Duterte’s earlier order, the present quarantine is scheduled to end at 12:00 a.m. of April 13.
Luzon is home to over 57 million people. It is where Metro Manila, the country’s political and economic nerve center, is located.
“You can keep criticizing, pero alam ng Pilipino ano itong COVID at ano ang hakbang ng gobyerno. Ako magbigay ako sa inyo ng hope. For the time na andito ako, ako ang [may] control, ibigay ko lahat. Do not worry about the money,” Duterte said.
[Translation: You can keep criticizing, but Filipinos know what COVID is and how the government is responding. I will give you hope. As long as I am here, I have the control, and I will give it my all. Do not worry about the money.]
Duterte signed on March 25 the Bayanihan to Heal as One law, which gave him special powers to combat the crisis. Among the provisions is a ₱5,000 to ₱8,000 monthly allowance for two months to poor families.
The DSWD allotted ₱200 billion emergency fund for the cash aid and started to distribute the subsidies to qualified families last April 3.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año told CNN Philippines Wednesday that a second rollout of cash aid for some four million more families who are not included in the DSWD’s initial list will happen soon.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Health department has recorded a total of 3,870 COVID-19 cases. The death toll is now at 182, while 96 people have recovered from the disease.
