The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) assured on Saturday, April 24, that the cash aid distribution in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces will be completed before the May 15 extended deadline.
In an interview over dzBB, DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the payout for the qualified recipients are now going smoothly particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR) where most of the complaints of slow cash distribution were received.
"The distribution is well ahead of deadline, some NCR LGUs (local government units) can finish the distribution by the end of the month," Malaya said.
The DILG official added that on April 23, the distribution rate was at 66.87 percent--which means that a total of P7,471,426,000 has been distributed, according to Malaya.
Malaya disclosed that P11.172 billion was allotted for NCR alone for the purpose.
As of Friday's record, Malaya revealed that a total of 11,172,988 recipients have already received the cash aid in NCR alone. He identified Mandaluyong, San Juan, Caloocan, Manila and Quezon City as the top five LGUs in terms of cash aid distribution.
The cash distribution was also ordered in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces which form the NCR Plus. Stricter quarantine measures have been in place in NCR Plus since these are the areas where high cases of coronavirus infection were recorded.
Malaya pointed out that the May 15 deadline is final with no more expected extension. (Chito A. Chavez)