By Chito Chavez
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday that the southern portion of Caraga region made the swiftest cash distribution to the most vulnerable families severely affected by the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya,
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Composed of five provinces and the progressive Butuan City, Caraga region completed 99.01 percent of the cash aid distribution under the social amelioration program (SAP) to the beneficiaries, according to DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya.
Malaya in an interview over DZMM said that 75 percent of the beneficiaries in the country have received the cash aid.
“In Metro Manila, the cities with the fastest aid distribution include Caloocan with 86.92 percent completed, Pasig with 77,05 percent, Marikina with 67.72 percent, Manila with 62.17 percent, and Valenzuela with 60 percent,’’ Malaya said.
With Quezon City being the largest and most densely populated area in metro Manila, Mayor Joy Belmonte appealed for 25-day extension of the cash grant distribution beyond the May 7 deadline.
Belmonte said the city’s appeal has not yet been acted by the DILG.
But Malaya insisted there will be no more extension of the May 7 deadline with show cause orders in the offing for non-complying local government units (LGUs).
Malaya also saw the need to decipher the best practices of the LGUs that are worth replicating in the midst of the health crisis.
“The sooner local governments liquidate the cash aid distribution, the earlier they can get their second tranche. Caraga might receive its second tranche before the end of May,’’ Malaya said.
Malaya said that an additional five million vulnerable families excluded from the first batch of 18 million cash aid recipients will be granted subsidy in the second tranche.