Manila villages with zero Covid-19 cases to get P100K incentive

MANILA – Barangays (villages) in the city of Manila that will record zero coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the next two months will get a PHP100,000 incentive, Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso said on Monday.

In a Facebook live update, Domagoso said that this is an additional approach that they are implementing so that barangays can set a goal and help the city government.

“This is goal setting, in the next two months starting September 1 to October 31, pag kayo ay walang nairehistro sa amin, malalaman naman namin sa Manila Health Department, na walang infection, walang new cases sa inyong barangay, ang barangay nyo ay magkakamit ng PHP100,000 (if you do not register any new cases any new infection, we will know that anyway through the Manila Health Department, your barangay will receive an incentive),” Domagoso said.

Domagoso said that he has already asked Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan for the Manila City Council to allocate PHP89.6 million for the program.

“Kinausap ko na po si Vice Mayor Honey kanina. Maga-appropriate po tayo ng PHP89.6 million, kasi ang goal natin, hopefully, kanya-kanya tayong magsisigasig para labanan ang Covid-19 pandemic (I asked Vice Mayor Honey earlier. Let us appropriate PHP89.6 million because the goal is, hopefully, that everyone will exert more effort in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic),” Domagoso said.

Domagoso said that under this initiative, all Covid-19 data will be verified by the Manila Health Department and will be scrutinized whether or not the village recorded zero Covid-19 infection for two months.

He said the budget which will be allocated is the amount of total incentive in case all the 896 barangays in the city put up a coordinated effort to achieve the goal.

“This is a challenge, there are 896 barangays in the city of Manila, 896 barangay chairmen, times 11 officials, they can be of help and I want to give them an incentive,” Domagoso said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Domagoso added that as there are only four months left in 2020, he understands many barangays in the city have depleted their budget in response to the pandemic.

Barangays that will be able to achieve the zero Covid-19 goal for the next two months will also receive a certification of appreciation for each of its officials recognizing their efforts.

As of August 31, the city of Manila has recorded a total of 874 new active Covid-19 cases and 277 suspected.

As of writing, Tondo 1 recorded the most number of active cases, followed by Sampaloc.

Meanwhile, a total of 6,911 have recovered in the city, after it recorded some 340 new recoveries.