Quezon City District 2 Councilor Winnie Castelo and two other city councilors are proposing the appropriation of P1 billion as “ayuda” or aid for poor families in Quezon City who have been left out in the national government’s social amelioration program (SAP) during the two-week hard lockdown in Metro Manila.
The three introduced in the city council a draft ordinance for the appropriation. The money would be available if the council approves the measure and the city mayor signs it.
Under the proposed ordinance, qualified beneficiaries would receive P1,000 per individual or a maximum of P4,000 per family, the same amount those in the DSWD master list are getting.
Castelo said Malacañang has released P2.4 billion to the city as SAP aid for 836,674 qualified beneficiaries.
“There are other Quezon City residents whose names are not on the beneficiary master list but who are considered indigents and low-income earners and are also affected by the two-week lockdown or enhance community quarantine (ECQ),” he said.
Aside from these families, there are residents who have lost their jobs and employees who are working for only three to four days a week and whose earnings are not sufficient for their households, he said.
“Like those in the SAP master list of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), those not in the list and the jobless and underemployed need ayuda or financial assistance. It is the latter groups the proposed ordinance intends to help,” Castelo added.
He suggested that the needed amount be sourced from savings, incoming revenue collections and other available appropriations in the city’s 2021 budget.
He recalled that the city appropriated P1.2 billion as additional ayuda during the last ECQ.
Castelo’s co-authors of the measure are Councilors Karl Edgar Castelo of District 5 and Melencio Castelo Jr. of District 6.
Under the proposed ordinance, qualified beneficiaries would receive P1,000 per individual or a maximum of P4,000 per family, the same amount those in the DSWD master list is getting.
Castelo’s co-authors of the measure are Councilors Karl Edgar Castelo of District 5 and Melencio Castelo Jr. of District 6.
They suggested that their proposal be known as “Social Amelioration Program 2 in Quezon City Ordinance.”
