Senators expecting Duterte’s second weekly report to shed light on emergency aid to poor Pinoys

Senators on Monday said President Rodrigo Duterte's second weekly report to Congress regarding government's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response should clarify the details regarding the distribution of the emergency cash aid to around 18 million low-income families.

This was after reports of alleged discrepancies on the number of qualified beneficiaries on the respective lists of local government units and of the national government reached the lawmakers' offices.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III reiterated that he already raised the said concern, among others, to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and that the President already vowed to iron out the confusion.

"Perhaps we will have an answer later or it might be contained in the report they will send later," Sotto said in a message to reporters.

"I'm expecting the report towards the evening," he added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, a member of the Congressional Joint Oversight Committee for the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, also hopes that the issue will be answered in the upcoming report.

"Among others, the wide gap in the DOF/DSWD list and the locally generated data on the recipients of the P200-B social amelioration fund is one of the issues that we expect to be resolved," he said.

He added that the estimate of 18 million target families include the poorest of the poor nationwide and those working in the informal economy who lost their income because of the enhanced community quarantine.

According to DSWD spokesperson Director Irene Dumlao, the department already started distributing the emergency cash subsidy to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who are cash card holders on April 3.

Some 700 residents of Parañaque were also among those who first received the monthly cash assistance via door-to-door distribution last Friday.

Section 5 of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act states that: "The President, during Monday of every week, shall submit a weekly report to Congress of all acts performed pursuant to this Act during the immediately preceding week."

The weekly report shall include the amount and corresponding utilization of the funds that were used, augmented, reprogrammed, reallocated, and realigned for COVID-19 response. — RSJ, GMA News