Duterte OKs aid in kind for 22.9M beneficiaries in NCR Plus

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the assistance program that would cover some 22.9 million beneficiaries in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces amid the new restrictions implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In Duterte's weekly talk to the people, Budget Secretary Wendell Avisado said a total of 22.9 million low-income individuals would receive P1,000 in kind under the assistance program.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said Duterte already signed the order for the release of the funds meant to aid people whose livelihood was affected by the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna.

Avisado said the Department of Budget and Management would release P22.9 billion to the local government units in the NCR Plus bubble for distribution of the goods.

The benefits will be limited to four individuals per family.

Avisado said the DBM would release the funds directly to the LGUs for distribution to affected individuals in kind.

He said this was to ensure that food and non-food requirements are adequately provided.

Duterte said LGUs should adopt the list of Bayanihan 1 beneficiaries to ensure that the assistance will reach the intended recipients.

The president said he wanted the funds for in-kind assistance out by the first week of April.

“Let’s just be careful… Dahil alam mo na kung anu-ano ginagawa ng mga ulol, the mutants of COVID-19… Siguraduhin lang na walang katiwalian,” Duterte said.

[Let's just be careful... We don't know what the fools would do, those mutants of COVID-19... Let's make sure it would be graft-free.]

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista said the agency would set up a grievance mechanism on the distribution of the in-kind assistance.

Duterte ordered Bautista to do some auditing after the goods were distributed.

Avisado has said the next wave of Social Amelioration Program would be funded by P23 billion in unutilized funds that the government can tap from the Bayanihan To Recover As One Act, and will be enough to cover beneficiaries for more than a week.

The beneficiaries will be based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Economic and Development Authority, corresponding to the 80% low-income population in the NCR Plus bubble.

Metro Manila and the four nearby provinces have been placed again under ECQ from March 29 to April 4, 2021 in a bid to address the surge in COVID-19 cases. --NB, GMA News