Palace: LGUs to decide whether aid in NCR Plus areas will be in kind or cash

Local government units (LGUs) will be the ones to decide whether the aid to be distributed to individuals residing in NCR Plus areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will be in cash or in kind, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday.

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado earlier told President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night that P1,000 worth of in kind aid will be distributed to low income households in NCR Plus areas which are under ECQ from March 29 to April 4.

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.

Under ECQ protocol, non-essential trips and non-essential services are not allowed. Public transportation, on the other hand, is only allowed to operate at 50% capacity.

“What the President signed last night [on aid distribution] is already silent on this. We leave it to the LGUs to decide kung ano ang pinakamabilis na makakarating sa ating mga kababayan,” Roque said during the Palace briefing.

(It is up for the LGUs to decide which form of aid can be distributed to beneficiaries as soon as possible.)

“Originally, the concern was sa pagkain dapat mapunta iyong ayuda, pero sa panahon ng pandemya, kung ano ang mas mabilis, binibigyan natin ng leeway ang LGUs [to decide],” Roque argued.

(There was a concern in ensuring that the aid will be spent on food, but amid a pandemic, we will give LGUs the leeway.)

“We cannot substitute the LGUs’ judgement if they want it to be in kind, o kung bibili pa at matagal eh i-cash na lang. Basta po mabilis na matatanggap,” he added.

(We cannot second guess the LGUs if they want it to be in kind or distribute it in cash if buying food will take time).

Roque assured the public that the P23-billion budget for the said aid will be accounted for in time by the Commission on Audit.

Avisado earlier said in a Dobol B sa TV interview that the government will not have enough funding for aid in NCR Plus areas in the event that ECQ is extended as recommended by the Department of Health to stymie the surge of COVID-19 cases.

Roque, however, was only referring to the P165 billion Bayanihan 2 stimulus law.

“Ubos na po ang Bayanihan 2,” Roque said.

(Bayanihan 2 is all used up.)

“We can always ask Congress for a supplemental budget in the form of Bayanihan 3, but that is premature at this point because we expect the one week of NCR Plus bubble and one week ECQ in NCR Plus areas, coupled with compliance of minimum public health standards, will give our hospitals the breathing room it needs,” he added.

Roque earlier said that extending ECQ in NCR Plus areas—which covers Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal—will only be an absolute last resort. — RSJ, GMA News