Duterte to agencies, LGUs: Simplify distribution of aid or face charges

President Rodrigo Duterte has directed agencies and local government units (LGUs) to simplify the distribution of aid to those in need.

In a taped address aired on Tuesday, Duterte told the agencies and LGUs to “do away with delay.”

“What I would like to happen is this: Simplify the giving of the money by asking for a proposal, then that proposal should not be studied by days or by months,” he said.

“You just review it and if it says that it’s for food, you give it because it’s for food, kakainin ‘yan. And all assistance connected with the health of a person o ano, ibigay ninyo.”

Duterte warned officials that they might face sanctions if they fail to do their duties.

“Pagka kayong may mga complaint, oras na dumating sa akin ‘yan, diretso na ‘yan sa Ombudsman. Bahala na kayo doon sa buhay ninyo. Because the Ombudsman can order you dismissed, order you [to] face charges, criminal or wala,” he said.

The government has been giving cash aid and other forms of assistance to sectors adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seventy-one percent of families have received financial aid from the government since the start of the pandemic, according to the September 17 to 20 survey taken by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The September figure was hardly different from the 72% recorded in July, “implying that there has been no increase in the recipients of the government's cash subsidy between July and September 2020,” the SWS said on October 13.

Still, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the poll results proved that “government help has reached and has been felt by a great number of our people.”

The government’s financial assistance program is composed of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP), the Department of Labor and Employment’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) as well as the Small Business Wage Subsidy. —KBK, GMA News