Cash aid for NCR to be released mid-next week as funds already with LGUs —DILG exec

Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said Saturday that the cash assistance for qualified beneficiaries in Metro Manila, which is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), will be released mid-next week.

As announced earlier, the cash assistance ranges from P1,000 for qualified individuals to a maximum of P4,000 per household.

In an interview on Dobol B TV, Densing said the P10.84-billion cash assistance for qualified Metro Manila residents has already been downloaded to the bank accounts of local government units (LGUs).

However, Densing said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of National Defense (DND), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should sign first a joint memorandum circular that will serve as a basis for the cash dole distribution before the release of the money.

“Ang aming estimate po baka mid of next week ay mailabas na po kasi aayusin pa lahat ng papel, listahan, mga authorization. Baka mga mid-next week baka mag-start na po ang ating mga lokal na gobyerno,” Densing said.

[We expect LGUs to distribute the cash dole-out mid-next week after necessary documents, lists of beneficiaries, and proper authorization have been secured.]

Likewise, he said that LGUs' cash distribution process would adopt the template used during last April's ECQ, and that the DILG expects the LGUs to use the same list of beneficiaries.

“Ang aming assumption e dapat parehas po dahil kung ang nabigyan ka noong nakaraang ayuda e dapat mabibigyan ka ngayong darating na ayuda” (We assumed that last April's beneficiaries are the same people to get the cash aid under the present ECQ), he added.

As for the province of Laguna — which is also under ECQ until August 15— Densing said that the government is also preparing separate funds for its cash assistance.

Densing reiterated that the government “automatically” considers the distribution of cash doles once an area is placed under ECQ, the strictest COVID-19 quarantine classification.

Metro Manila was placed under ECQ from August 6 to 20, in a bid to slow down the transmission of the Delta coronavirus variant in the country.

On Friday, the Department of Health (DOH) said the highly contagious Delta variant has been detected in all Metro Manila areas.

As of Friday afternoon, the Philippines recorded a total of 1,638,345 COVID-19 cases after 10,623 new infections were reported. —LBG/KG, GMA News