Caritas Manila gives P1-B worth of GCs to 800K poor families

Caritas Manila is a church-based non-profit organization that serves as the lead social service and development ministry of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Manila. (File photo by Judgefloro/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

MANILA – The social action of the Archdiocese of Manila on Thursday reported that it has distributed more than PHP1 billion worth of gift certificates (GCs) to more than 800,000 urban poor families in Metro Manila and Luzon.

Caritas Manila executive director, Fr. Anton Pascual, said through their Oplan Damayan, they have distributed GCs to less fortunate families affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine implemented by the government to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Caritas Manila is a church-based non-profit organization that serves as the lead social service and development ministry of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Manila.

Through its “spiritual front-liners” of priests, nuns, and lay volunteers in various parishes in Mega-Manila, it has distributed a total of PHP1,078,212,500 worth of GCs covering 813,857 urban poor families — or 4,069,285 people – who have been affected by the quarantine in Luzon, Pascual said in a statement.

The GCs were distributed to the dioceses of Cubao, Antipolo, Malolos, Parañaque, Caloocan, Novaliches, Pasig, and San Pablo City in Laguna, and the Archdiocese of Manila composed of 633 parishes.

Some 300,564 families from the cities of Manila, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Pasay, have received PHP309,912,500 worth of GCs, while 117,894 families from Malabon, Navotas, and the southern portion of Caloocan City got GCs amounting to PHP197.5 million.

A total of 109,154 families in Quezon City Districts 2, 5, 6, Barangay Matandang Balara and Caloocan City (north) received PHP109.3 million worth of GCs, while 76,110 families from Cavite got PHP88.1 million worth of GCs.

Some 85,164 families in Rizal (with Marikina City) got GCs worth PHP85.4 million; 19,600 families in the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Muntinlupa, PHP77 million worth of GCs; 25,001 families in Quezon City’s Districts 1 and 3 (except barangays Matandang Balara and Ugong Norte), 4 and 6, PHP66 million worth of GCs; 30,565 families in Pateros and the cities of Pasig and Taguig, PHP60 million worth of GCs.

Meanwhile, 31,400 families in Laguna and 18,405 families in Bulacan received PHP50 million and PHP35 million worth of GCs, respectively.

The GCs can be used to buy basic needs such as food, milk for infants and medicine in various supermarkets such as Puregold, Robinsons and Super 8.

Pascual expressed gratitude to rich businessmen, including Jaime Zobel de Ayala, and the local government for their participation in Oplan Damayan.

He added that the church will “always be at the service of the poor, most especially during this Covid-19 health crisis.”