Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said he hopes the government would still consider allocating funds for financial aid as many Filipinos are still reeling from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cayetano made the call after countering Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s statement that the “ayuda” being given as part of the government’s pandemic relief program is just a “waste of funds” and should be discontinued since the country has already “fully recovered” from it.
The senator said he is willing to “sit down and work with the government” to work out the distribution of direct aid to the people, saying the issue for millions of Filipinos is survival.
Cayetano, who is pushing for the passage of his proposed P10,000 cash aid, said the distribution of financial assistance is not considered a dole-out since it not only addresses the hardships brought about by the pandemic, but also the impact of inflation.
“Hindi po dole-out ang ayuda sa panahon ng pandemic. Dahil y’ung pandemic ay nasamahan pa ng sobrang taas ng presyo so ang issue ay survival (cash aid is not a dole-out during the pandemic. Because aside from the pandemic, prices of basic goods and services also increased so the issue is survival),” Cayetano said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, August 30.
If direct aid is so bad, “then how come the US and other countries have been doing this as a form of social protection and para makabangon ang ating mga kababayan?” Cayetano further pointed out.
“I think it will be a lively discussion sa budget hearing. I am willing to sit down and work with the government kung ang ibibigay ay trabaho, livelihood, o negosyo (if the are willing to provide either jobs, livelihood or business),” he said.
Cayetano also said he believes the people are not asking for anything for free and that all they want is a chance to recover from the hardships the country is currently facing.
“Ang tao naman ay hindi humihingi ng libre. I hope that the admin will be open na marinig ng diretso sa ating mga kababayan kung gaano kabigat ang buhay ngayon at bakit kailangan y’ung ayuda (People are not asking anything for free. I hope that the administratiaon would be open to hear directly from our people how hard life is for them right now and why they still need the financial aid),” the lawmaker said.