The new P22.9-billion aid program for low-income people in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) must be implemented without graft and corruption, President Duterte said Monday.
The President assigned Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista to oversee the smooth aid distribution and “countercheck” that the assistance would go to the intended beneficiaries.
"Let us just be careful because may nangiyaw, ngiyaw, ngiyaw, ngiyaw, ngiyaw, ngiyaw, ngiyaw dito at hindi ko --- maski ano-anong ginagawa ng mga ulol. These are the mutants of COVID-19. So siguraduhin lang natin na walang katiwalian (Let us just be careful because these fools will complain here and there regardless of our effort. These are the mutants of COVID-19. So let's make sure there is no corruption)," he said during a televised address Monday, March 30.
The proposed supplemental amelioration program has been approved by the President during a meeting with top government officials Monday night.
The program involves the distribution of P1,000 worth of assistance in-kind, but not more than P4,000 per family, to 22.9 million low-income people in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces placed under ECQ this week. The funds will be released to local government units which will then distribute the aid in-kind to the qualified constituents.
In the meeting, the President wanted authorities to start the distribution of the aid by the first week of April. He told Bautista, a former Army chief, to conduct "oversight" and "countercheck" of the aid distribution by the local government units.
"Ro, pakitulong na lang doon sa --- paki sort of an oversight na mapadali ‘yong transaction na pa-downloading. I-follow-up mo pati ‘yong --- you do the counterchecking after the distribution of the goods para ma --- ang feedback mo. And diyan man talaga sa iyo bagsak ‘yang mga --- lahat. It’s your --- it’s your office, it’s your department that will be the --- the --- the last place where it would be sent itong (Ro, please help, sort of an oversight to hasten the downloading of the funds. Do some follow-up. You do the counterchecking after the distribution of the goods and provide feedback. It's your office, it's your department that will be the last place where it would be sent)," he said.
The latest round of assistance came after the government placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cebu, Laguna, and Rizal under ECQ from March 29 to April 4, 2021. Movement curbs have been tightened in NCR plus to curb the rapid surge in coronavirus cases and prevent the collapse of the health care system.