Who will get how much assistance under NCR Plus ECQ?

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday approved a new special amelioration program for areas under enhanced community quarantine in the NCR Plus bubble -- Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna.

Who will get how much?

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

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 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 were adequately provided.

Duterte said LGUs should adopt the list of Bayanihan 1 beneficiaries to ensure that the assistance would  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.

[You know what the fools could do, those mutants of COVID-19. Let's make sure it will be graft-free.]

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista said his department 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 the 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