Palace assures new ECQ areas of cash aid but details still unavailable

Malacañang on Monday assured affected residents of areas placed under enhanced community quarantine that they would receive cash aid to cover lost income due to limited economic activity.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, however, said there is still no information how much the cash assistance would be.

“I have talked to Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado. Kapag nagdedeklara po ng ECQ ay nagbibigay naman po talaga ng ayuda,” Roque said.

[A declaration of ECQ is followed by distribution of cash aid as a matter of policy.]

“Hindi pa natin alam ang amount and kung kailan [maibibigay], and we hope to know it by Wednesday,” he added.

[We just don’t know the amount and when will it be distributed as of yet.]

The announcement came three days after the government placed Iloilo province and the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, and Gingoog under ECQ to curb the spread of COVID-19 amid the more transmissible Delta variant.

The government previously granted a cash aid worth P4,000 to P8,000 for every low income family, based on regional wage rates amid the ECQ implementation in their area to tide over the families amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed P405 billion Bayanihan 3 measure provides for P1,000 cash aid for every Filipino. This measure, however, is still pending in Congress.

Based on Philippine government records, there are 109 million Filipinos, of which at least 23 million families are under low income category.  —NB, GMA News