Senator Joel Villanueva on Tuesday, August 3, asked the government to consider the grant of "ayuda" or cash aid to residents of cities outside the National Capital Region (NCR) that are also placed under hard lockdown.
"Nagugutom rin po ang mga kababayan natin doon. Mawawalan po ng hanapbuhay ang karamihan sa kanila (Our other compatriots are also going hungry. Many of them will lose the jobs). Hunger is not something confined to the National Capital Region alone. It is a national phenomenon," Villanueva, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, said in a statement.
"If aid is limited to Metro Manila, then are we saying na hindi kumakalam ang sikmura ng mga taga-Cagayan de Oro at Iloilo (that those from Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo are not going hungry)? The budget department should look into this...People subjected to the same quarantine restrictions should be entitled to the same quarantine assistance," he appealed.
An enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will again be imposed in Metro Manila from August 6 to 20. Authorities hoped this would control the surge in COVID-19 cases in the region due to the Delta coronavirus variant.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced on Tuesday that the government will distribute P13.1 billion worth of financial assistance to 10.7 million NCR residents who will be affected by the two-week lockdown.
Meanwhile, residents of Iloilo province, Cagayan de Oro City, and Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental -- which were already under ECQ -- were assured of a cash assistance of P1,000 to a maximum of P4,000 per family under a program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Regional offices have started distributing the payouts, the DSWD said.
Still, Villanueva said distributing the cash aid in cities in the provinces will be easier that in cities within Metro Manila since they have smaller populations.
“Population-wise, Metro Manila is 20 times the size of Cagayan de Oro, 100 times bigger than Gingoog City. NCR has 37 times more people than Mandaue. Iloilo City is just one-sixth the population of Quezon City," he noted.
"I share the optimism of budget watchers that the government will be able to source funds for cash assistance, which is for the short term and lower in amount than the previous ones,” Villanueva said.