(UPDATED) The government will distribute assistance worth P1,000 to 22.9 million low-income residents of the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal during the Holy Week lockdown.
Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado told President Rodrigo Duterte Monday evening, March 29, 2021, that qualified individual beneficiaries will receive P1,000 in kind. Per family, the budget is not more than P4,000, also in kind.
At least 80 percent of the affected population, more than the number of beneficiaries under Bayanihan 1, will benefit from this latest assistance.
There will be 11.2 million beneficiaries in the NCR, 3.0 million in Bulacan, 3.4 million in Cavite, 2.7 million in Laguna and 2.6 million in Rizal. Distribution is expected in the first week of April.
Avisado said the budget, estimated at P22.9 billion, will be taken from P23 billion unused funds under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, or Bayanihan 2.
Avisado said congressional approval is no longer needed for the release of the funds because the President is authorized under the Bayanihan 2 law to use any unutilized funds for pandemic response.
Appropriations under Bayanihan 2 are valid until June 30, 2021, he noted.
Avisado said the funds will be given directly to the local government units (LGU), which will distribute the assistance based on the Bayanihan 1 social amelioration program (SAP) list.
“Sa meeting po ng ano po ng IATF (Inter Agency Task Force) kahapon, at in the exigency of the need to provide immediate assistance, ang mga pondo po, once you have approved it, will be released to the LGUs for distribution to affected individuals in kind -- in kind po, Mr. President -- to ensure that food and other non-food requirements are adequately provided,” he said.
Duterte asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to watch for oversights.
“Not because we do not trust the mayors, I said. Iba ito eh. Iyong iba ito ‘yong noon na pinadaan natin kung sino-sino tapos nawala ‘yong -- ‘yong ibang pera nawala. Hindi naman lahat but there were a lot of complaints regarding na -- the non-remittance of the money,” he said.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Baustista said they will set up a grievance mechanism together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Avisado said the LGUs will also have to submit reports to the Commission on Audit.
In Cacarong, Pandi, Bulacan, the barangay distributed Tuesday morning relief assistance consisting of three kilograms of rice, four packs of noodles, four cans of meat loaf, two cans of corned beef and mongo beans. (SunStar Philippines)
Editor's Note: This article was updated to correct the number of beneficiaries to 22.9 million, not 22.9 billion as earlier posted. The budget for this assistance program is P22.9 billion.