Duterte urges folk who still have no COVID-19 aid to complain

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday asked qualified Filipinos who have yet to receive any financial assistance from the government to complain before local officials, who will then relay the issues to the national government.

"'Yung hindi pa nakatanggap, let us know by radio or what, magreklamo kayo sa radio station, barangay captain then the mayor," Duterte said in his address before the country.

"Mag-report kayo diyan and it's a matter of using a cellphone. The governor just ask… kung sino pa ang hindi nabigyan kasi pagbigyan namin lahat," he added.

Several local governments earlier lamented that only a fraction of the individuals on their list of beneficiaries were given financial assistance by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under the social amelioration program.

The Metro Manila Council has since called on the DSWD and the Department of Finance to provide for all beneficiaries LGUs have identified as thousands of Filipinos continued to wait for aid.

The DSWD has indicated that the LGUs lack of information as regards their constituents played a role in the slow initial distribution of cash aid.

As of Wednesday last week, over 5.7 million beneficiaries had received financial assistance, the DSWD said. -NB, GMA News