By Genalyn Kabiling  Rich people will be excluded from benefiting from government's P200-billion social protection program amid the coronavirus emergency, President Duterte declared Monday night. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte updates the nation on the government's efforts in addressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on March 30, 2020. (KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/MANILA BULLETIN) According to the President, the massive relief assistance will instead benefit low-income families “badly affected” by the latest public health crisis. Frontline gov’t agencies given power to implement measures to address COVID-19 threat “The government is now launching the largest and widest social protection program in our country’s history to make up for the loss of economic opportunities due to the quarantine measures in place for COVID-19 (coronavirus disease),” he said during his public address on government television Monday night. "Meron tayong ₱200 billion na ibinigay sa akin ng Kongreso para gastusin ko. Iyon naman ho ang ginagamit kong pakalat ngayon na pera para mabigyan ang lahat. Galing doon sa walang trabaho, may trabaho, kalahating trabaho. Ang mga mayaman, hindi na kasali. (We have P200 billion given to me by Con- gress to spend. I will use the money to benefit everyone, those who have no job, who has part-time job. The rich will be excluded),” he said. The beneficiaries of the emergency aid program include those in the “informal sector and those who live day-to-day on subsistence wages or ‘no-work, no-pay’ arrangements.” “Beneficiary-households will receive emergency support for two months based on the regional minimum wage,” Duterte said. Under the Bayanihan law, the government is authorized to provide emergency subsidy ranging between P5,000 to P8,000 to around 18 million low-income households for two months. Republic Act No. 11469, or the “Bayanihan To Heal As One Act,” signed by the President last week, grants the country's leader additional powers to address the coronavirus pandemic. The President, however, appealed to the “those who have more in life” to extend assistance to people in need. Assistance to farmers, fishers Duterte, meantime, pledged to provide assistance to farmers, fishermen and small businessmen to cope with the health emergency. “To our farmers and our fisherfolk: We have not forgotten you and government is now employing quick response measures to help you during the crisis as well as ensure food productivity, availability, and sufficiency during the period of the pandemic,” he said. Recovery package for business Also, he said the economic team has started to prepare the guidelines for the “recovery package” to help micro, small, and medium enterprises deal with the economic effects of coronavirus pandemic. Providing emergency assistance to affected sectors is one of three priorities of the government's measures to "overcome and recover" from the coronavirus pandemic, Duterte said. The two other priorities are securing facilities and resources for the health sector and implementing fiscal and monetary actions for the economy. Temporary emergency measures Apart from the financial package, the whole of government is also moving to implement “cohesive and harmonious” efforts to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. President Duterte has authorized concerned heads of government agencies to implement “temporary emergency measures,” from protecting health workers, hastening the accreditation of testing kits, to providing financial aid to poor families in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. The implementation of measures under the Bayanihan law is contained in a memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea last March 28. Medialdea confirmed on Tuesday the existence of the memorandum. This is in line with Republic Act No. 11469, the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” that gave the President additional powers to address the coronavirus emergency. "In view of the enactment of RA No. 11469 on 24 March 2020, which granted President powers and authorities necessary to carry out urgent measures to meet the COVID-19 national health emergency, thegovernment now has greater means to supplement, expand, improve,and intensify existing COVID-19 responses and preventive measures, and to further mitigate the social, economic, and financial impact of COVID-19 on all Filipinos,” the memorandum read. “To achieve our aim of overcoming this present threat, the simultaneous government efforts on different fronts must be cohesive and harmonious. Thus, the whole of government must work together towards the following objectives: protect and support our health workers and front liners; provide the supplies and equipment necessary for detecting the disease and caring for those infected; ensure that community quarantines are effectively implemented; deliver essential necessities such as food and medicine to the most vulnerable; keep essential and critical utilities and businesses running and their processes uninterrupted; provide temporary economic relief to Filipinos and businesses; and, mobilize all state assets to sustain the operations of the government,” it said. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7t2inu