MANILA – And so it seems the residents of Pasig City are having a Happy Easter after all in spite of the extended enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
Last Sunday, April 12, Mayor Vico Sotto said in Facebook live the city government is set to roll out the Pasig Supplemental Social Amelioration Program to distribute as much as Php 8,000 for each household who might be left out by the Social Amelioration Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
He said, “May 206,000 families ang nangailangan sa Pasig ngunit about 93,000 lang ang mabibigyan ng DSWD. Ang ibang nangangailangan ay wala sa listahan ng DSWD kaya sasaluhin po sila ng lokal na pamahalaan.”
DSWD will manage an initial amount of Php 275 billion under the Social Amelioration Program exclusively to fight against the Coronavirus Disease-19 (Covid-19) crisis in the country. So far, Php 100 billion budget for program has been released and allocated in almost all local government units in the country that will give aid from Php 5,000 to Php 8,000 per month depending on the average minimum wage level of the region.
The said program of the national government targets indigents, senior citizens and low-income families based on the 2015 census which was about 18 million households. Each family will get up to Php 16,000 in two months. However, the population may have significantly increased since the last census.
Sotto was worried that the discrepancy in the number of beneficiaries of the national program would cause problem and misunderstanding among neighbors left behind so the city initiated its own amelioration program to supplement the budget from the DSWD. “Baka magkagulo. Halimbawa, yung kapitbahay ninyo nabigyan (ng tulong) at kayo hindi, baka magkaroon ng mga akusasyon na may palakasan,” warned the young mayor.
He further said he intently studied the cash position of Pasic City until he calculated that it can shell out Php 8,000 for each “unreached” families. “Kailangang magsakripisyo tayo, maghigpit tayo ng sinturon. May mga proyektong ika-cancel muna natin dahil wala tayong choice. Ayaw nating magutom ang mga kababayan natin,” he suggested.
