THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has given local government units in Metro Manila an additional 10 days to complete the distribution of financial assistance to households affected by the August 6 to 20 lockdown of the National Capital Region.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the extra days would give the LGUs more time to complete the payout of the “ayuda.”
As of Wednesday morning, Año said the distribution of the P11.256 billion cash aid was 95 percent complete, meaning P10.663 billion of the aid has been distributed to 10,663,537 beneficiaries.
“Those (LGUs) which were not able to complete, they requested an extension and we are granting them 10 more days. That’s up to September 10. That’s the final extension. They should complete it within 10 days. We are confident they can do it within the period,” Año said in a phone interview.
The DILG has initially given Metro LGUs until August 25 to complete the distribution. This was extended to August 31.
The ayuda distribution started on August 11, or five days after the NCR was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), particularly the more transmissible Delta variant of the virus. The region has reverted to modified ECQ since August 21 and will be under the same category until September 7.
President Duterte approved the distribution of financial aid in the NCR in the amount of P1,000 per low-income individual, or a maximum of P4,000 per low-income family.
Año said that of the 16 cities and one municipality in NCR, only the cities of Manila, Caloocan, Quezon, Navotas, Malabon and Pasig have completed their cash aid payout.
Año said he was satisfied with the pace of the distribution, especially amid the challenges that local governments faced because of the local transmission of the Delta virus. He added that several officials also contracted the virus and had to undergo quarantine, further delaying the disbursement of the cash assistance.
