NCR poor to get P8,000 subsidy – lawmaker

POOR families in the National Capital Region (NCR) will receive P8,000 under the emergency subsidy program (ESP), House ways and means committee and Albay Second District Rep. Jose Maria Clemente “Joey” Salceda said on Tuesday.

Republic Act 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” provides an emergency subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 monthly for a span of two months to each of the 18 million low-income households affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Salceda, the breakdown of subsidy was based on the daily minimum wage. A breakdown of the ESP shared by Salceda to the media showed that poor families in Regions 3 and 4A will get P6,500; P6,000 for those in Regions 6, 7, 10 and 11; P5,500 for those in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 1 and 2; and P5,000 in Regions 4B, 5,

8, 9, 12, Caraga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Salceda, a co-author of the House version of the Bayanihan Act, said the financial help would act “as an incentive for families to comply with social distancing measures.”

“The quick rollout of the ESP will

help us keep families at home. Kapag walanak as ingp era, la lab a stalag a ‘y an para makap ag han ap bu hay( If there is no more money, people will go out to search for a livelihood). Or in the worst conditions, be forced to violate the law. We’re definitely not yet in recovery stage but we want to keep society from reaching a stage of desperation for now, while we’re still in survival mode,” he said.

Salceda also welcomed the inclusion of tricycle drivers and lactating and pregnant women in the ESP.