Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the national government aims to have the cash assistance for typhoon "Odette" victims ready for download to the affected local government units (LGUs) by Wednesday, Dec. 29.
"Ang pagda-download po niyan will be through the LGUs at iyong sourcing po niyan, iyan ang hinahanapan ngayon ng paraan ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management). But ang promise po is that by tomorrow mada-download na po ang funds (The downloading of funds will be done through the LGUs while the sourcing will be determined by the DBM. But the promise is that by tomorrow, the funds will have been downloaded)," Nograles said in a virtual press conference Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Nograles, the acting presidential spokesperson, confirmed that each family-beneficiary will receive P5,000 in financial aid or "ayuda".
"So within the day importante na ma-identify na po iyong mga families na mabibigyan ng cash assistance (It's important to identity the families who will be given the cash assistance)– these are the most affected families, severely affected families," he said.
The beneficiaries will be identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the LGUs with help from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Nograles said.
The aid will be distributed to the typhoon victims in the same way that the national government distributed its ayuda under the social amelioration program (SAP) for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
"The same set-up," Nograles said. "Ang pagbibigay po ng nasabing cash assistance ay sa pamamagitan ng tulong ng mga LGUs (The release of the cash assistance will be facilitated by the LGUs), to be monitored by DILG and to be monitored also by DSWD."
Meanwhile, the Palace official said another form of aid--the shelter assistance--is currently being discussed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
"We are now in the phase na magkakaroon na tayo ng (that we are having a) post-disaster needs assessment at ang gumagawa po ng post-disaster needs assessment ay ang NEDA together with OCD (and the agencies doing it are the NEDA and OCD). In that post disaster needs assessment, may iba’t ibang sub-committees po ‘yan – isa na sa mga sub-committees iyong sa shelter assistance (there are different sub-committees and one of them is the sub-committee on shelter assistance)," he noted.
"So hintayin na lang po natin kung ano iyong magiging kinalabasan ng (So let’s just wait for the result of the) post-disaster needs assessment in terms of the shelter assistance na kinakailangan nating gawin (that we need to do)," Nograles added.
Odette–the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year–first made landfall on Siargao on Dec. 16. Citing the massive damage caused by the typhoon in the Visayas and Mindanao, President Duterte placed a total of six regions under a state of calamity on Dec. 21.