Low-income families affected by the ongoing Luzon-wide quarantine have started receiving their emergency cash subsidies from the national government, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.
Nograles, who is also the spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported that low-income households from the cities of Manila and Parañaque received the emergency subsidy from the national government on Friday.
Nograles said the LandBank of the Philippines also deposited the government’s cash assistance on the ATMs of beneficiaries from Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Autonomous Region.
“Majority of members of President Duterte’s Cabinet will voluntary give the 75 percent of their monthly salary.”
He said poor families from Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and the Zamboanga Peninsula also received emergency relief on Saturday.
“Some of the Cabinet members have signified their plan to donate their monthly salary until December this year.”
The remaining beneficiaries from other regions received the aid on Monday (April 6), Nograles said.
Nograles earlier said that a majority of the the members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet is willing to donate 75 percent of their monthly salaries to boost the government’s efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Malacañang said.
In a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said he and some of his fellow Cabinet officials would voluntarily give the 75 percent of their monthly pay to augment the COVID-19 response fund.
Nograles, however, declined to name the other Cabinet officials who will make the donation.
“Majority ng mga miyembro ng Gabinete ni Pangulong Duterte ay boluntaryong ibibigay ang malaking bahagi – 75 percent ng kanilang buwanang sahod – upang ilaan sa mga programa ng gobyerno upang sugpuin ang COVID-19 sa loob ng panahong ipinapatupad ang Bayanihan Law (Majority of members of President Duterte’s Cabinet will voluntary give the 75 percent of their monthly salary to help the government fight COVID-19 during the time Bayanihan Law is still in effect),” the Palace official said.
He said some of the Cabinet members have signified their plan to donate their monthly salaries until December this year.
Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act permits the Duterte government to tap P275-billion emergency funds for COVID-19.
Under RA 11469 that was signed into law on March 27, Duterte is required to submit a weekly report to Congress every Monday.
The report should include the details on how the government will allocate the emergency funds for the COVID-19 response.
The law also allows Duterte to use the P200 billion of the P275 billion to help the 18 million poor families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mga kababayan, lagi namang sinasabi (we are always saying), we are all in this together,” he concluded.