Bayan Muna hits slow distribution of ECQ aid

Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares on Tuesday criticized the slow distribution of assistance for those affected by the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) enforced in the National Capital Region and several nearby provinces (NCR Plus).

“President Rodrigo Duterte’s incompetent COVID response is deadly. With the admission by DSWD that only 8% of the 22.9 million beneficiaries have received the already very low ayuda, many of the poor will go hungry in the midst of lockdowns and restrictions," Colmenares said in a press statement.

"This will force many in the NCR Plus bubble to go out to look for means to provide food for their family thereby endangering their lives," he added.

Colmenares pointed out that the DSWD had a dismal record in distributing assistance for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that more than a year has passed and government officials still commit the "same inefficient and incompetent handling of aid disbursement."

"What is worse is that the aid itself is a measly P1,000 up to P4,000 for a family no matter the size, when government could afford to give more to the people," Colmenares said.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista has said P1,757,281,000 or only 8% of the P22,915,422,000 social amelioration program fund was disbursed to those low-income individuals and families affected by the ECQ in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

Bautista admitted that there was a "slow start" in the disbursement of assistance, but he promised that the distribution would be fast in the coming days.

Of the disbursed funds, Metro Manila residents received the most cash aid with more than P1.5 billion funds distributed to 1.5 million beneficiaries.

Loans

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate demanded an accounting of the loans made by the Duterte administration during the health crisis.

He cited a report from the Bureau of Treasury which stated that the national government’s running debt balance ballooned to a new record-high of P10.327 trillion as of end-January 2021.

Zarate said aside from the loans made, there were grants and donations given to the Philippines. He questioned why the assistance being given to beneficiaries was too small.

"Ang tanong, saan na ang perang ito at bakit kakarampot lang ang dumarating na ayuda sa mga mahihirap? Where did these loans go and where is the government accounting for these loans?" Zarate said.  

(Where did the money go and why the aid extended to poor families was too low?)

"Government can afford to give more aid and we demand a P10,000 cash aid for poor affected by these lockdowns, that is why we are also calling for a special session of Congress to expedite bills and measures that can give the P10,000 ayuda to our suffering people," he added.

Zarate also said the former military generals, who are leading the country's battle against the deadly COVID-19, should be replaced by health experts.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Duterte has been relying on former military officials and bureaucrats instead of public health experts in fighting the pandemic.

"We demand that military generals who know nothing about public health emergencies, who are ignorant of social service work and distribution of aid, be replaced by competent public health experts and efficient personnel capable to an effective COVID response," Zarate said, noting that the "deadly incompetence" in the administration should stop.

Meanwhile, Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas also criticized the snail-paced distribution of assistance, noting that the government has no sense of urgency.

"Anong petsa na? Nasa bagong quarantine classification na tayo pero hindi pa rin nakakarating ang ayuda para sa mamamayan. Hindi na ayuda ang tawag diyan -- abuloy na," Brosas said in a separate statement.

"Walang sense of urgency ang pamahalaang ito. Hindi na nga sapat ang ayuda, hindi pa maibigay agad. Dumaan na ang Bayanihan 1 at 2 pero hindi pa rin umaabot ang ayuda sa mga tao," she added.—LDF, GMA News