Duterte: DSWD released P184-M COVID-19 aid on top of social amelioration cash

Apart from those distributed to low-income families, a total of P184 million have also been given out to individuals with other COVID-19-related concerns, President Rodrigo Duterte's seventh weekly report to Congress on Monday showed.

According to the report, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, through its  Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program, has catered to a total of 43,346 clients for their various COVID-related concerns in the amount of P184,739,812.

These concerns include requests for medical or burial assistance, and even those of 6,478 stranded individuals due to the lockdown policies implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The report also stated that 546,669 indigent senior citizens have already received their social pension for the first semester of 2020 and/or their unpaid social pension from 2019, amounting to P1.64 billion.

The DSWD has likewise activated its helpline # 8931-9141 for reports of child abuse to ensure the protection the rights of the children as the country faces the COVID-19 threat.

Meanwhile, around 27 tour guides and kalesa drivers will also receive a one-time P5,000 financial aid through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Assistance Program for Artists and Cultural Workers under the State of Calamity, intended for displaced cultural workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the report said.

At the same time, the Nayong Pilipino Foundation's project Damayan sa Nayon will also provide a similar short-term amelioration program to artists and other cultural workers.

The Department of Health, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology are also set to jointly implement the second phase of the DOH Telemedicine program, the report said.

This will include home visits of Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams to patients and the use of various COVID-19 health systems.

As of May 11, a total of 11,086 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Philippines, with 726 deaths and 1,999 recoveries. -NB, GMA News