DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio bared on Friday, March 20, that the city is now working on distributing the ration cards starting next week to 10,000 qualified family beneficiaries.
Duterte-Carpio said qualified beneficiaries will be indigents, out-of-work (contractuals, and “no work, no pay” employees), and self-employed workers.
The mayor underscored that the “no work, no pay” employees who are included are those who are either mandated to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days or their establishments were closed.
Self-employed workers include those street and night market vendors and massage therapists.
She said the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will be working on identifying the qualified beneficiaries to be included in their master list this weekend.
The mayor added the barangay social workers will be coordinating with CSWDO in identifying and creating the master list of those who will be receiving the ration cards.
Although Duterte-Carpio said the number of beneficiaries is still being tallied, the number of cards is already prepared way ahead.
Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, said the distribution of goods of those with ration cards will be set weekly.
“It’s (distributed goods) good for six to seven days atong ihatag para dili ta magsige og distribute kay mass gathering man na siya (so that we would be lessening the frequency of the distribution since it would still result to mass gathering),” the mayor said during a radio interview on Davao City Disaster Radio 87.5 FM.
Duterte-Carpio revealed on Thursday, March 19, the distribution of the ration cards amid the community quarantine imposed in the city due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Initially, the mayor said there are still no plans of releasing the cards. However she said the distribution of these cards will be beneficial especially to the indigents who lost their financial opportunities brought about by the closure of some non-essential establishments as imposed by the issued executive orders of the city government.
She said there will be a simultaneous goods distribution from March 23 to 25 in identified areas “ready” for distribution.
“We expect nga duna’y lugar nga dili pa ready for the ration cards, maong three days atong pag-download sa relief goods (We expect that there will be areas that are not yet ready for the distribution of the ration cards. That is why we set it into three days to give way for the downloading of the relief goods),” Duterte-Carpio said.
As to the possibility of individuals who would lie on their employment status and take advantage of the cards, the mayor said the government already has steps to trace them.
“Duna gyu’y mga mag-take advantage, ug mamakak because that is batasan sa kadaghanang Pinoy (There are individuals who would take advantage and lie because that is the attitude of most Filipinos),” Duterte-Carpio said.
She also said the City Health Office (CHO), in coordination with the barangay health workers, will also be assisting in identifying and distributing the ration cards.
The mayor announced that the distribution of ration cards will also be implemented in other local government units in Davao Region next week. (RGL)