{"id":263105,"date":"2020-07-27T20:05:33","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T00:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=263105"},"modified":"2020-07-27T20:05:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T00:05:33","slug":"prrd-warns-opportunists-amid-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/07\/27\/prrd-warns-opportunists-amid-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD warns \u2018opportunists\u2019 amid Covid-19 pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOT PERFECT. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on Monday (July 27, 2020). Duterte acknowledged that the implementation of the social amelioration program is not perfect but vowed to run after individuals who turned the coronavirus pandemic into an \u201copportunity\u201d to earn money. (Presidential photo via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday warned \u201copportunists\u201d amid the government\u2019s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.<\/p>\n

Duterte made the warning as he acknowledged during his fifth and penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the implementation of the social amelioration program (SAP), which intends to give financial aid to needy Filipinos, is \u201cnot perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmittedly, our implementation of the social amelioration program was not perfect. And some opportunists turned crisis into opportunity. We will catch up with you sooner than you think,\u201d he told the nation.<\/p>\n

Under the SAP, the national government distributes temporary cash assistance ranging from PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 to low-income families to help them cope with the Covid-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n

Some 18 million poor households have received the first tranche of emergency subsidies under the SAP.<\/p>\n

However, only 12 million of the 18 million existing beneficiaries will benefit from the implementation of the second phase of the program. They will be joined by five million wait-listed beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the lead agency tasked to implement the SAP, is eyeing the completion of the disbursement of the second wave of financial aid to indigent families by the end of July.<\/p>\n

Run after profiteers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe profiteers, over-pricers, and corrupt felons must be laughing while they stash their dirty monies. But not for long. They cannot outrun the long arm of the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte said dealers and purveyors of illegal drugs who are \u201chiding in the shadow of Covid-19\u201d have stepped up their activities.<\/p>\n

He noted that the amount of shabu valued at millions of pesos seized during police operations amid the health crisis \u201cspeak(s) volumes of the enormity and weight of the problem that we bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President also said \u201cthe corrupt, the grafters, and the influence peddlers\u201d are also taking advantage of the fear and confusion that the new coronavirus generates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe financial and material assistance of the government to the unemployed, the sick, and the destitute running into billions of pesos, are not spared from corruption and ineptitude. Even the donations from well-meaning private persons are skimmed before reaching their intended beneficiaries. It is like snatching food from the mouths of babes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte also bared that he had received reports that some public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers were unable to receive cash assistance from the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic utility drivers were given assistance through the \u2018Pantawid Pasada\u2019 Program. There are complaints that some drivers did not receive any assistance at all. I have directed the DSWD and DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) to look into this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte assured that his administration would not stop addressing the health crisis and helping the Filipinos move to the \u201cnew normal\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us in government assure you that we will not stop until we get things right and better. I know that many of are worried not only about health and safety but our ability to move around and ride public transportation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday warned \u201copportunists\u201d amid the government\u2019s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":263106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263107,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263105\/revisions\/263107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}