Only ECQ areas to get 2nd tranche of cash aid
Only poor households in areas that will remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until May 31 will benefit from the second tranche of emergency cash assistance intended for families most affected by the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.
This was announced yesterday by Malacañang, which also said local government units will no longer be in charge of the distribution of the cash subsidy.
As ordered by President Duterte, the Department of Social Welfare and Development will lead in the distribution of the cash assistance for the remaining days of the month, according to DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista.
He said the DSWD would tap the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Department of
National Defense to assist in the distribution, which would also include the additional five million families left out of the initial 18 million beneficiaries covered by the first tranche.
The total number of those who would receive the second tranche has yet to be released, although presidential spokesman Harry Roque stressed that only those in areas under ECQ until the end of the month would be included – meaning, the first tranche beneficiaries in Metro Manila, Laguna and Cebu City.
“The DSWD would wait for the written directive or executive order from the Office of the President, which would serve as guidelines in the implementation of the second tranche,” Bautista added in Filipino.
He said they are looking for ways to hasten the distribution process, such as using digital wallets in the release of the payouts.
As of Monday, 1,035 of 1,632 local government units have completed distribution of the cash aid for the month of April.
The DSWD data do not match that of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which said that 1,265 local government units have completed the distribution.
Explaining the discrepancy, the DSWD said the DILG has municipal local government operations officers that make report generation faster.
Only 140 have so far submitted liquidation reports, which is needed for the revalidation of the list of those covered by the second tranche.
According to Bautista, a total of P92.1 billion had been distributed to 16.3 million beneficiaries, including 3.7 million under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
Bautista said local government units that have yet to complete distribution of the first tranche may continue to do so even after the May 10 deadline.
“Local government can continue with the payouts since the funds are still with them,” he said in Filipino.
“We remind them that they have 15 days to submit their liquidation reports and encoded list of beneficiaries. Any delay in the submission would mean a delay in release of funds for second tranche,” he added.