No food, no sleep: Some NCR beneficiaries wait long hours for cash aid

Some Metro Manila residents spent long hours in line to claim the cash assistance given by the government amid the reimposition of enhanced community quarantine, according to Unang Balita reports on Thursday.

Distribution in some areas reportedly started later than scheduled and some local government workers failed to accommodate the volume of people who trooped to the venues.

In Barangay Batasan Hills in Quezon City, the distribution started at 4 p.m. on Wednesday and lasted the whole night.

According to the report, the barangay did not issue a list of beneficiaries who can claim their cash aid on the specific day. Due to this, many people trooped in the venue to make it before a cutoff.

Due to crowding, the people failed to observe social distancing.

Beneficiaries complained that they haven't eaten or slept just to get their cash aid, which amounts from P1,000 to P4,000 per family.

Esperanza Daang, a beneficiary, said she waited 16 hours in line only to learn that she was not included in the list. Aileen Gallanosa, meanwhile, was expecting a P4,000 payout because they have four members in the family but she only received P2,000.

In Barangay Old Balara, the distribution to Wednesday batch of benificiaries was finished around 5 a.m. on Thursday, according to a report of James Agustin.

Some of the residents were waiting in line since Wednesday afternoon. At midnight, the line was still long, reaching outside Old Balara Elementary School.

The City Treasurer’s Office started to release payouts around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

When the distribution was cut off around 4 a.m. on Thursday, beneficiaries were asked to return at 11 a.m. They expressed frustration as some of them have already waited 16 hours.

The City Treasurer’s Office explained that their personnel were already tired, noting that same workers will accommodate beneficiaries in the resumption of payout.

In Barangay 154 in Tondo, Manila, the distribution for the second batch of beneficiaries did not start as scheduled because the payout to the first batch on Wednesday was completed just on Thursday morning, according to a report of Darlene Cay.

In Parañaque City, some beneficiaries expressed disappointment that they received less cash than what they were expecting, according to a report by Mav Gonzales.

Interviewed on Unang Hirit, Metro Manila Council chairperson and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said that LGUs should post the list of beneficiaries who will claim the cash aid on a specific date and venue.

In his city, he said they only scheduled 600 beneficiaries for every venue per day.

He added that personnel from local government units and Philippine National Police should be monitoring the compliance of the beneficiaries to the minimum health standards against COVID-19 as they wait in line.

The government allocated P22.9 billion for the assistance program for the residents of National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal who were affected by the implementation of ECQ. —KBK, GMA News