Recto calls on gov't to release remaining P100B allocation for SAP
Published May 19, 2020 12:00 am
By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday called on the government to release the remaining P100 billion allocation for the social amelioration program (SAP) so it can continue assisting indigent families.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Recto joined his fellow lawmakers in insisting that the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act mandated a two-month emergency subsidy to low-income households displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns to contain it.
The Senate leader said this should push through even as the quarantine rules have been relaxed.
"Klaro sa records ng debate iyon (The records of our debates were clear), that it should be given in two installments and is not linked to the quarantine status of the place," Recto said.
"Hindi sinabi doon na kapag downgraded na ang quarantine (The law did not say that if quarantine was downgraded), we abort the grant of scheduled aid," he added.
He further said: "The lifting of the lockdown does not give the government the excuse to end the assistance.”
Recto cited official reports from the executive department that half of the P200-billion fund allocated for the SAP have yet to be distributed to beneficiaries.
"This should be released pursuant to law. Withholding it is like pulling the financial ventilator of hard up families,” he said.
In President Duterte's eighth report to Congress on the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act on Monday, May 18, a total of P100.62 billion has been disbursed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to local government units for the distribution of the P5,000 to P8,000 cash assistance to 18 million low-income households, including beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
Of the amount, some P96.03 billion have been received by 17 million beneficiaries.
The government earlier allotted P200 billion for the emergency subsidy program.
Duterte also reported that they have so far utilized a total of P8.7 billion for the other SAPs under the Department of Labor and Employment (for formal and informal workers and oversease Filipino workers) and the Department of Agriculture (for rice farmers).
Section 4(c) of Republic Act No. 11469 provides an emergency subsidy to around 18 million low income households, with an amount ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 a month for two months.
The executive department later decided to add five million more beneficiaries to the program, but discontinued the grant in areas under general community quarantine due to depleting funds.
"The first tranche will cover the first month of the quarantine. Sixty days na ang lockdown kaya tama lang ‘yung two months na ayuda (It has been 60 days since the lockdown was imposed so it is just proper that the cash assistance be given for two months)," Recto said.
"Kaya mayroon pang balanse na kalahati, mga P100 bilyon. Kung two gives, bigay na kaagad yung other half. Lalo ngayon na mayroon nang listahan,” he added.
Instead of “shrinking the SAP, the challenge is how to expand it, on how to include the new poor,” Recto said.
"This would be the 10 million Filipinos ‘in the middle of the middle income bracket’ whose maximum subsistence capacity of four to six months is nearing empty," he said.
The executive department is seeking Congress' help in looking for more funds for the continued roll out of the subsidy program.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque had earlier said that an additional P50 billion is needed for this.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Recto joined his fellow lawmakers in insisting that the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act mandated a two-month emergency subsidy to low-income households displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns to contain it.
The Senate leader said this should push through even as the quarantine rules have been relaxed.
"Klaro sa records ng debate iyon (The records of our debates were clear), that it should be given in two installments and is not linked to the quarantine status of the place," Recto said.
"Hindi sinabi doon na kapag downgraded na ang quarantine (The law did not say that if quarantine was downgraded), we abort the grant of scheduled aid," he added.
He further said: "The lifting of the lockdown does not give the government the excuse to end the assistance.”
Recto cited official reports from the executive department that half of the P200-billion fund allocated for the SAP have yet to be distributed to beneficiaries.
"This should be released pursuant to law. Withholding it is like pulling the financial ventilator of hard up families,” he said.
In President Duterte's eighth report to Congress on the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act on Monday, May 18, a total of P100.62 billion has been disbursed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to local government units for the distribution of the P5,000 to P8,000 cash assistance to 18 million low-income households, including beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
Of the amount, some P96.03 billion have been received by 17 million beneficiaries.
The government earlier allotted P200 billion for the emergency subsidy program.
Duterte also reported that they have so far utilized a total of P8.7 billion for the other SAPs under the Department of Labor and Employment (for formal and informal workers and oversease Filipino workers) and the Department of Agriculture (for rice farmers).
Section 4(c) of Republic Act No. 11469 provides an emergency subsidy to around 18 million low income households, with an amount ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 a month for two months.
The executive department later decided to add five million more beneficiaries to the program, but discontinued the grant in areas under general community quarantine due to depleting funds.
"The first tranche will cover the first month of the quarantine. Sixty days na ang lockdown kaya tama lang ‘yung two months na ayuda (It has been 60 days since the lockdown was imposed so it is just proper that the cash assistance be given for two months)," Recto said.
"Kaya mayroon pang balanse na kalahati, mga P100 bilyon. Kung two gives, bigay na kaagad yung other half. Lalo ngayon na mayroon nang listahan,” he added.
Instead of “shrinking the SAP, the challenge is how to expand it, on how to include the new poor,” Recto said.
"This would be the 10 million Filipinos ‘in the middle of the middle income bracket’ whose maximum subsistence capacity of four to six months is nearing empty," he said.
The executive department is seeking Congress' help in looking for more funds for the continued roll out of the subsidy program.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque had earlier said that an additional P50 billion is needed for this.