LGUs to prioritize indigents in aid distribution amid ECQ

CEBU, Philippines —  Local government units (LGUs) will be prioritizing indigents and displaced employees in the distribution of relief amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Province of Cebu.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has just signed into effect Executive Order No. 5-O, which lays down the guidelines and protocols of the ECQ recently declared in the province.

In the time of movement restrictions, the EO also enumerated that indigents and those living below the poverty line, displaced workers, senior citizens with no other means of income and those under mandatory quarantine without any financial means are the priorities for aid distribution.

Local government chiefs will be aided by barangay captains in the profiling of individuals belonging to this group.

The EO also emphasized that gathering qualifying residents to claim relief goods is strictly prohibited as it violates protocols against social gatherings.

Instead, relief will be delivered to the doorsteps of the qualifying residents.

In previous interviews, the governor assured that there is enough funds sourced from the calamity funds and the 2020 Annual Budget of the Province of Cebu to be downloaded to the individual LGUs. Much so that she added that there is currently no need to craft a supplemental budget just yet.

The province has just been placed under ECQ tantamount to that of a lockdown earlier today.

This lockdown is set to last until further notice.  KQD (FREEMAN)