Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco said Tuesday he is seeking advice from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regarding the unclaimed Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) ayuda or cash assistance from the national government for city residents.
Tiangco said he is still waiting for the reply of the DSWD after he sent it a letter last week inquiring what the city government should do with the unclaimed cash aid.
"Hindi na kasi pwedeng i-distribute yun sa ibang tao. Habang hindi sinasabi hanggang kailan namin hihintayin yung unclaimed, nakapangalan yun doon sa mga taong naka-payroll. Kaya dapat naming malaman kung hanggang kailan namin hihintayin yung unclaimed (We cannot distribute yet the unclaimed assistance without the advice of the DSWD. This is because their supposed beneficiaries are already identified. So we have to know until when we will wait for them)," the mayor said in a DZRH interview.
The payout for the ECQ ayuda that is funded by the national government is ongoing until May 15.
The local government has allotted P32 million for those who are not included or those who are still waitlisted in the Social Amelioration Program’s list of beneficiaries. The fund was taken from the budget of various city offices that was reverted by the local government.
The local government said around 3,400 of 10,233 families, which are beneficiaries of the cash assistance, have already received aid worth P1,000 to P4,000 from the national government.