No specific Palace instructions yet to strip 'certain' LGU of cash aid distribution duty —DILG spox

The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Tuesday said it has not received any instructions yet from the Malacañang regarding the stripping of the cash aid distribution duty of a certain local government unit.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said he has instructed the DILG and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to take over the task due to the LGU's lack of organization.

“Wala naman [none],” DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya told GMA News Online in a message when asked what LGU Duterte was referring to.

“We haven’t received specific instructions from Malacañang,” he added.

Asked on the position of the DILG on the statement of Duterte, Malaya said the department is prepared for any eventuality.

In his weekly public address, Duterte said the DILG and the DSWD would be the ones to distribute the cash assistance in LGUs where officials are unable to distribute it in an orderly manner.

Duterte did not specifically name the LGU he was referring to, but said it's in the National Capital Region.

"Hindi ko binigay sa kanila [I didn't give it to them]," he said. "There's only one [such LGU] in Metro Manila."

He also said the mayor of the said LGU has an "disorganized mind."

The release of cash assistance to low-income households in the National Capital Region (NCR) affected by the enhanced community quarantine will start on Wednesday, August 11.

Around 11 million NCR residents will benefit from the cash assistance, according to the DILG. The cash aid will be P1,000 per individual or up to P4,000 maximum per household.

Metro Manila was placed under ECQ from August 6 to 20 in a bid to curb the transmission of the Delta coronavirus variant in the country.  —KBK, GMA News