IATF says government has so far distributed P922 million in subsidies
MANILA, Philippines — The government said it has distributed more than P900 million worth of emergency subsidies to nearly 171,000 families as it wrestles with the coronavirus, which has disrupted business activity and sidelined thousands of workers in Luzon.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, spokesman of the government's task force on the coronavirus, said P922 million worth of emergency subsidies have been given to 170,989 low-income families who are not beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
About 3.72 million households have received assistance from the Pantawid cash transfer program, he added.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has also provided emergency subsidies to 40,418 drivers of transport network vehicle service and other transport workers.
"In addition to this, the DSWD has distributed a total of 61.9 million pesos to 13,135 clients for COVID-19 concerns under the assistance to individuals in crisis situation program," Nograles said at a press briefing.
More than 5,000 people in the Philippines have been infected by the coronavirus, the highest in Southeast Asia, based on latest health department data.
To contain the spread of the virus, President Duterte placed the entire island of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine, a stringent measure that forced the government to allot billions in aid for poor families, daily wage workers and other sectors affected by the lockdown.
Nograles said a total of P57.49 billion worth of funds from the Social Amelioration Program—a multibillion-peso aid package that provides cash assistance to 18 million households—has been given to 934 local government units.
The amount represents 72% of the P80.9 billion allocation for low-income families.
"DSWD aims to complete the distribution of all the funds to all LGUS by this week subject to the cooperation of the remaining LGUs," Nograles added.
Duterte has also approved a subsidy program that seeks to provide P5,000 to P8,000 cash assistance to about 3.4 million middle income employees of small businesses for two months.
About 57 million residents of Luzon were required to stay home during the quarantine, which started last March 17 and will end on April 30 at the earliest.
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