Duterte vows to lock up abusive local execs

P200-B COVID aid set for poor households

MANILA, Philippines — After announcing a massive aid package for low income households reeling from the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), President Duterte has warned that he would not hesitate to lock up local executives – including barangay officials – who would be found misusing funds entrusted to them for distribution to their constituents or for purchase of relief goods.

“If you do that in crisis… you really deserve to be jailed. You should be jailed. I won’t release you; I don’t believe in the filing of cases. Let me go to jail in the future if I were found to be wrong,” Duterte said in a televised public address late Monday.

“I told you… don’t cheat now, don’t resort to corruption by stealing the food or not giving relief to others… You know, people sometimes think that they own whatever they receive from government. This is not yours, neither is it mine,” Duterte said.

He said he has directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate and file charges against local officials who “willfully disregard, contravene or violate national guidelines on community quarantine” set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

In his address, Duterte said the P200-billion aid package is the “largest and widest social protection program in our country’s history” for low-income households and other sectors badly hit by stringent quarantine measures intended to contain COVID-19.

The P200-billion aid package will provide each household-beneficiary P5,000 to P8,000 in emergency support for two months, depending on the regional minimum wage.

“This is the largest assistance provided by the government to our people in our history. It’s only now that we are facing a problem like this... (The package seeks) to make up for the loss of economic opportunities due to the quarantine measures in place for COVID-19,” the President said.

The President also said he has laid down the responsibilities of each department, in an order issued through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

“I have given them their marching orders, emphasizing the need for sufficient authority, so that they do not have to go back to me and ask for clearance for each and every action they have to take,” Duterte said. 

“All of the details of our actions will be part of my report, which will be submitted to Congress pursuant to the Bayanihan Act,” he added.

One of the directives contained in the order is the submission of an inventory of private assets that can be used for efforts to contain COVID-19 and address the disease’s impact on different sectors.

“The DOH (Department of Health), the DOTr (Department of Transportation), the Department of Tourism and the OCD (Office of Civil Defense) are directed to submit to the Office of the President an inventory of all available or potential assets, and proposed guidelines to exercise such power,” the memorandum, signed by Medialdea last March 28, read.

Based on guidelines, the President’s power to direct the operation of private entities should conform to the limits set by Article XII, Section 17 of the Constitution, the memorandum said.

Malacañang also urged agencies and the private sector to “negotiate in good faith,” as the government exercises its power to require businesses to prioritize and accept contracts, subject to fair and reasonable terms, for materials and services needed to promote the national policy on COVID-19.

“Should any contracting party for contracts over such materials or services refuse to give such contract a priority, anyone who has personal knowledge of the contract and the acts of the offending party is enjoined to report the same to the Office of the President to enable the President to exercise the foregoing power,” the memorandum read.

Duterte has placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, a pandemic that has infected more than 720,000 people worldwide and is widely seen to push economies into recession. The disease, which has afflicted about 2,000 persons in the Philippines, may cause the country’s economy to slow this year, economists said.

Because of the lockdown, which started last March 17 and will end on April 13, a majority of Luzon’s 57 million population have been forced to stay at home, including daily wage earners who now rely on government dole-outs for their basic needs.

“We have P200 billion given by Congress for us to spend. I will use it and everyone will benefit... Those who do not have jobs, those who have jobs, those who are working part-time. The rich are excluded,” Duterte said.

Aid for small business

The President also vowed to help small businesses and the agriculture sector cope with the impact of the pandemic.

“The government will provide a recovery package especially to micro, small and medium enterprises to help deal with the economic effects of this pandemic. My economic team is already creating the guidelines for this as I speak,” the President said. 

“To our farmers and our fisherfolk: we have not forgotten you and government is now employing quick response measures to help you during the crisis as well as ensure food productivity, availability and sufficiency during the period of the pandemic. The government is here for you,” he added.

Malacañang has also directed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide subsidies to low-income households as part of temporary emergency measures.

The memorandum signed by Medialdea said the emergency subsidy would be extended to 18 million low-income households.

The subsidy received from the existing conditional cash transfer program and rice subsidy would be considered in the computation of the emergency subsidy.

The DSWD has also been tasked to expand the government’s existing cash transfer program or come up with another scheme that would provide cash, cash voucher or goods to households who have no incomes or savings from which they could draw, including those working in the informal economy or are not recipients of existing government aid.

The amount to be distributed must be “adequate to restore capacity to purchase basic food and other essential items during the duration of the quarantine,” the memorandum read.

Earlier, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) warned that the COVID-19 pandemic may slow economic growth to 4.3 percent or may even lead to contraction of the Philippine economy by 0.6 percent this year if mitigation measures are not implemented. 

‘No one goes hungry’

While the government is rolling out a multibillion-peso aid package, Duterte appealed to private institutions and individuals to help in uplifting the condition of those severely affected by the health crisis.

“I still count on everyone to also look after their fellowmen – their countrymen. To those who have more in life, I implore you to share in the cost of taking care of the less fortunate and keeping our society intact,” the President said. 

“They have also contributed to our prosperity in one way or (another). So, let us support them in this crisis. Let it be said that, in the hour of our country’s greatest need, we all looked out for and helped each other. Let us open our hearts to the needy,” he added.

He also assured local governments of assistance and promised to ensure that nobody would go hungry during the quarantine period.

House leaders – ways and means committee chairman Joey Salceda and Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero – said the distribution of dole-out funds is the most crucial element of the special powers granted by Congress to President Duterte under Republic Act 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act).

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has proposed a house-to-house distribution of the cash assistance.

“Let’s do it house-to-house to minimize the crowd, there should be little to no contact between the beneficiaries and relief workers, maximize the use of technology for documentation and record-keeping.”  – Edu Punay, Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin