Vice President Leni Robredo hopes that local government units (LGUs) have already learned from the “best practices” of the past year in distributing “ayuda” or cash aid to millions of beneficiaries living in areas under the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Metro Manila and some provinces with high cases of COVID-19 are under ECQ from August 6 to 20 to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases, as well as the highly transmissible and contagious Delta variant.

“Sana iyong best practices noong nakaraan ma-consider na ngayon. Bilang aral sa ano ba iyong pinaka-efficient na manner sa pagdi-distribute na hindi nacocompromise ‘yung physical distancing ng mga constituents (I hope the best practices from the past can be considered now. As a lesson in what is the most efficient manner in distributing that will not compromise the physical distancing of the constituents),” she said on her Sunday radio show.

She lauded the national government for releasing the budget for cash aid for Metro Manila, as well as Iloilo City and Cagayan de Oro City because this will ensure that those affected by the lockdown will have money to pay for their food.

READ: DBM releases nearly P11-B for ‘ayuda’

But the vice president noted the cash aid for beneficiaries in Laguna has not yet been released.

Robredo said the National Identification System is important because it will be “helpful” as the basis for the correct system of distribution of cash aid.

With this, she added that beneficiaries will no longer need to line up for government cash aid.

“Dapat, by now, maayos na iyong listahan natin kasi ito yung naging problema noong unang round, di ba? (The list should be organized by now because this was the problem during the first round, right?),”she asked.

This is the third tranche of cash aid from the government. This will amount to about P10.89 billion that was sourced from the savings of different agencies and departments.

The cash aid is scheduled for distribution this Wednesday, August 11, after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) already sent the money to LGUs.

READ: ‘Ayuda’ payouts yet to be set by LGUs — DSWD

Robredo suggested that the list not be centralized with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) because barangay officials are the ones who are familiar with residents who are entitled to receive aid.

“Sana involved iyong mga barangay sa paglinis ng lista kasi sila talaga iyong nakakaalam (I hope the barangay would be involved in cleansing the list because they are really the ones who know),” she added.

Still, the vice president said that the two-week lockdown must be used effectively to control the surge in cases.

“So, sana ngayon iyong two weeks na parang stop lahat iyong lahat pwedeng gawin, gawin na (So, hopefully these two weeks that everything will stop, let’s do what we need to do),” she stressed.

Earlier, Robredo already called for an intensified testing, contact tracing, and vaccination of individuals while Metro Manila and some provinces are in lockdown.