Cash aid for NCR households affected by ECQ to start August 11 —DILG

The release of cash assistance to low-income households in the National Capital Region (NCR) affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will start on Wednesday, August 11, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Monday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Metro Manila mayors agreed to start the distribution of the financial aid on the same date.

“Nag-meeting po kami ng mga mayors the other night para nga paplantsahin 'yung ating proseso ng pamimigay ng ayuda at nagkasundo po sila na sabay-sabay silang magsisimula sa Miyerkules,” he said.

(We had a meeting with the mayors the other night to finalize the process of releasing the cash assistance and they agreed to start the distribution on Wednesday simultaneously.)

According to Malaya, most of the local government units will release the funds through distribution points.

In light of the threat of COVID-19, mayors will post the list of beneficiaries and their schedule of claiming their cash aid.  

Around 11 million NCR residents will benefit from the cash assistance, Malaya said.

The cash assistance will be P1,000 per individual or up to P4,000 maximum per household. 

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said the local government is ready to distribute the cash aid after receiving the fund on Friday.

"Kami ay handang handa na, kahit noong weekend pa ay handa na kami dahil 'yung pondo ay natanggap namin nung Friday pa. Ito 'yung list na ginamit nung April. We are more than ready in fact, kasi ang sistema na gagamitin ay 'yun din dati," he said.

(We are very ready as we have received the fund last Friday. We will use the same list of beneficiaries and system we utilized in April.)

Zamora said the list of beneficiaries and details will be posted on the social media account of San Juan.

In a separate interview, Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan said at least 400,000  individuals will benefit from the cash aid.

"Assured na 'yung mga nakatanggap nung nakaraan ay makakatanggap ngayon. Antayin lang nila ang text o tawa kung kailan at saan sila pupunta," he told Super Radyo dzBB.

Malapitan posted an advisory on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment said it is looking for funding sources for possible assistance to workers who will be affected by the two-week ECQ in Metro Manila.

Metro Manila was placed under ECQ from August 6 to 20, in a bid to slow down the transmission of the Delta coronavirus variant in the country.

Under the ECQ guidelines, only authorized persons outside residence (APOR) will be allowed to leave their homes. Among the APORs are employers and workers in industries permitted to operate under ECQ.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in NCR breached 2,800 on Saturday, the highest since May 2, data shared by the OCTA Research group showed.

It added that the reproduction rate in Metro Manila went up to 1.80 from 1.56 a week ago.

The country's total COVID-19 cases meanwhile reached 1,658,916 on Sunday after 9,671 new COVID-19 infections were recorded. —KG/AOL, GMA News