Parañaque taps Union Bank for cash assistance distribution
The Parañaque City government has tapped Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) for the fast, convenient, and accessible online disbursement of the P200 million ‘incomparable’ Paraña-cash COVID-19 Assistance Program.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced that eligible city residents will start receiving their respective UnionBank EON VISA Card which is very useful for offline and online transactions next week.
The two parties signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) recently.
The EON account comes with the EON VISA Card which enables the beneficiary to withdraw the city’s P5,000 cash assistance per household from any automated teller machine (ATM) nationwide or payment for purchases in any online merchant establishments or utility bills.
Olivarez said families who will benefit from the program are those “left-out households” who did not receive any form of cash assistance from the national government under the Social Amelioration Program, expanded 4Ps, and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program of the Department of Labor and Employment.
He said households who did not receive cash from the national government are entitled to P5,000 cash assistance as part of the city’s relief efforts to mitigate the economic impact caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“A total of 50,000 qualified households will receive a P5,000 cash assistance within the month,” Olivarez assured, adding that the signing of the MOA realizes the goal to make disbursements of cash aid in this time of pandemic fast and efficient.
Olivarez stressed that digital electronic disbursement through transaction accounts, like bank or e-money accounts undertaken by duly authorized financial service providers (FSPs) is the most expedient way to accomplish this task.
Paolo Baltao, UnionBank SVP and head of EON Banking, said they are committed to co-create with the city government of Parañaque in its initiatives towards e-government and a digital economy. “Beyond the technology, we share the dedication to serve and fulfil aspirations.”
For her part, lawyer Melanie Soriano- Malaya, City Data Protection Officer (DPO), said the partnership of the city government and UnionBank is hitting two birds with one stone. “By using online disbursement for Paraña-cash, we are contributing to the government’s goal to promote the digital economy.”
More importantly, Malaya said, they were also able to improve the city’s responsiveness on various online government services in accordance to data privacy and protection laws.