Continue giving cash subsidies to poor families in GCQ areas —solons

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the government to continue distributing emergency cash subsidies under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to low-income families living in areas that are and will soon be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) only.

This was after Malacañang announced earlier in the day that only those who reside in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will receive the second tranche of the cash subsidy.

In a virtual press conference, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro said while many areas in the country will transition from ECQ to GCQ by May 16, most of those who live there lost their jobs during the lockdown.

"Dapat ituloy pa rin yung pagbibigay ng SAP sa pangalawang buwan kahit na ang region ay naka-GCQ," she said.

"Nakita naman natin kahit naka-GCQ, ang mga regions, marami pa rin naman diyan ang nawalan ng trabaho na, naghahanap ng trabaho, makakatulong itong second tranche ng SAP," she added.

Castro and her fellow Makabayan bloc members have filed House Bill 6692 extending the SAP during the GCQ.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate sponsored the said measure during the virtual meeting of the Social Amelioration cluster of the House Defeat COVID-19 committee on Tuesday afternoon.

"The social and economic reality remains true that Filipinos especially employees of establishments and industries that are not allowed to operate under the GCQ will be most affected," he said.

"For this reason, especially those who also belong to the so-called informal economy, it is necessary to continue the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program to the affected individuals and families even those under now the general community quarantine," he added.

During the same virtual meeting, Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development to clarify whether low-income families in areas under GCQ will indeed no longer receive the second tranche of cash subsidies.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said that this new policy was based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, but this is not yet executory pending an official order from the Office of the President.

"The DSWD cannot release an official statement pending yung hinihintay na covering for that resolution kasi it's just a recommendation of the IATF. In the absence of an issuance coming from the Office of the President, hindi pa siya magiging executory," Relova said.

"Once na lumabas na yun, ilalabas na ni DSWD yung guidance namin tsaka yung mga iba't iba naming communication paraphernalia para malaman ng lahat ng LGUs kung ano na yung nabago for the second tranche," she added.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, around 18 million low-income households belonging to the informal sector will be targeted to receive monthly emergency subsidies amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 for April and May.

The deadline for the distribution of the first tranche of the cash subsidies was on May 10.

According to President Rodrigo Duterte's seventh weekly report to the Congress, more than 14 million families have already received their cash subsidies as of May 8. —LDF, GMA News