Pasig allots P1.5 billion as supplemental cash aid

PASIG, Philippines — The Pasig City government has earmarked P1.5 billion as supplemental cash assistance for families in the city not covered by the social amelioration program (SAP) of the national government, Mayor Vico Sotto said yesterday.

The fund, sourced from different city government projects they decided to cancel or postpone until next year, is expected to benefit about 167,000 households, he said.

“We also looked into our bank accounts… and we have identified P1.5 billion that we can use for cash assistance,” Sotto said in an interview over CNN Philippines.

Based on their computation, each family will also receive P8,000 in cash assistance, similar to the national government’s SAP assistance.

There are around 260,000 families in Pasig who need assistance but only 93,000 households will receive a cash grant under the SAP, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Sotto lauded the Duterte administration for shouldering the expenses of 93,000 poor families in the city “but we cannot forget the other families.”

Taguig residents get crisis assistance

In Taguig, Mayor Lino Cayetano said in a public address on Monday night that the city’s 68,000 senior citizens; 12,000 persons with disability; and at least 1,000 fishermen, vendors and farmers in the city’s registry would receive P4,000 each as crisis assistance to alleviate the effects of the quarantine.

Valenzuela resort houses homeless

The Pisces Resort and Pavilion in Barangay Coolong, Valenzuela has opened its rooms to the city government for free to house rescued street dwellers, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said yesterday.

Twelve homeless persons were housed in the resort as of yesterday. While they were provided food and medicine, they were also lined up for targeted testing for COVID-19, city social welfare office-in-charge Dorothy Evangelista said.