More than 276K families in QC get cash aid

MANILA – More than 276,000 families in Quezon City have already received their financial assistance from the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the local government said Wednesday.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said they have so far reached out to 276,389 family beneficiaries or 865,000 individuals, one week since the city started distributing financial aid to residents affected by the reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine.

She said the families who have already received financial aid account for about 35 percent of the estimated target of around 800,000 family beneficiaries.

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

According to a report by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, QC placed second on a percentage basis among the local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region Plus that have so far distributed the most assistance to its constituents.

To recall, the QC government received a total allocation of PHP2.48 billion on April 5 from the national government for QC beneficiaries.

Belmonte also appealed to the national government to extend its 15-day deadline for LGUs to finish their aid distribution, saying that both Quezon City and its population are quite big.

Belmonte said that based on the guidelines by the national government, those eligible for the aid are the same beneficiaries of the social amelioration program 1 and 2 of the DSWD, as well as the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

QC Administrator Michael Alimurung said the city government employed strategies and organized the system of distribution to speed up aid distribution.

He said that stubs were distributed with a set of schedules.

They also implemented the cash aid distribution through alphabetical scheduling and per street scheduling to also limit the number of people to 2,000 individuals per day to avoid overcrowding the payout centers.

Alimurung said these strategies were successfully implemented through the help of the barangay officials who ensured that minimum public health and safety protocols such as the wearing of face mask and face shield and safe physical distancing were properly observed.

Moreover, the city government also established a grievance and appeals committee in every distribution site so those not on the list may file an appeal and present pertinent documents.

Belmonte earlier said that the city has its own database of families belonging to the low-income bracket.