Over 276,000 Quezon City families receive aid

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has distributed ayuda or financial aid to over 276,000 families affected by the recent implementation of the enhanced community quarantine.

Around 865,000 individuals from 276,389 families have received financial assistance as of Tuesday, data from the city treasurer’s office showed.

The figure represents about 35 percent of the 800,000 beneficiaries of the P2.48-billion aid downloaded by the national government.

“This is an achievement already given that it has just been a week since we started the distribution and considering the number of people that we have to cover before the 15-day deadline set for all cities in Metro Manila,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

According to the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Quezon City ranked second among local government units in terms of percentage of the distributed aid.

City administrator Michael Alimurung said the local government has employed different strategies to organize the system of distribution, especially in large barangays with thousands of beneficiaries.

“With the help of the barangays, we have improved the system to ensure that people will receive the aid in an orderly manner and that the basic health protocols such as social distancing will be followed,” Alimurung said.

The city government also established grievance and appeals committees at distribution sites to consider those whose families were not on the list.

“If they are not on the list, they may approach our grievance committees and appeal that they deserve to be on the list. They just need to present pertinent documents,” Alimurung said.

Last week, Belmonte urged the national government to extend the 15-day deadline for the distribution of cash aid, citing the huge number of beneficiaries in the city.

She said local officials are doing their best to comply with the deadline while ensuring that physical distancing and other health protocols are still followed.