Mayor Toby Tiangco to donate salary as cash aid for Navotas citizens

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco announced on Sunday that he would donate his salary from April 2020 until the end of his term in June 2022 to provide cash aid to his constituents who were not covered by the national government’s social amelioration program.

In a Facebook post, Tiangco said he would leave it up to the city’s social welfare department to choose the beneficiaries and divide his salary, which amounts to P3,291,809.76 or P121,918.88 per month, among Navotas' citizens.

“Kahit hindi ko pa natatanggap ito, idodonate ko na ang buong halaga para mabigyan ang mga kababayan nating hindi nakatanggap ng SAP,” he said.

“Alam ko pong hindi pa rin ito sapat para mabigyan ang lahat ng mga apektado. Pagpasensyahan niyo na po ang aking nakayanan. Nawa’y makatulong po ito para maibsan ang hirap na ating dinadanas ngayon, lalo na sa mga pamilyang walang-wala sa buhay,” Tiangco added.

Around 18 million low-income households and those in the informal sector were to receive monthly cash subsidies of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months as mandated by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.

However, hundreds of thousands of households that local government units in Metro Manila have identified as beneficiaries of the social amelioration fund in connection with the government's COVID-19 response have so far been left out of the program.

Meanwhile, Duterte, Cabinet officials, senators and other local government officials have also donated a portion of their salaries to help in the fight against COVID-19.

The Philippines has so far recorded 7,579 cases of COVID-19, including 501 fatalities and 862 recoveries. — DVM, GMA News