Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Wednesday revealed that the government is mobilizing funds to extend financial assistance to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing in a press briefing several proposals endorsed by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Nograles, quoting portions from IATF Resolution No. 15, announced that “the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is hereby directed by the IATF to transfer 420,585,000 pesos to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC).”
“The said amount shall be utilized to cover COVID-19-related packages of the PHIC (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation).”
“The said amount shall be utilized to cover COVID-19-related packages of the PHIC. The amount corresponds to 50% of the remainder of the standby fund under Sec. 4 of EO No. 201, per Sec. 1 of EO No. 108 (s. 2010).”
Aside from this, the IATF also endorsed the proposal of the Department of Labor (DOLE) “for the immediate release of the amount of P1.5 billion in financial assistance for overseas Filipino workers and repatriated overseas workers to be submitted to the Department of Budget.”
According to Nograles, another recommended proposal is for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to allocate P25,000 as burial assistance for indigent confirmed COVID-19 cases and patients under investigation (PUIs), regardless of whether the patients were treated in a private or government hospital. It shall also be given to those undergoing home quarantine.
The DSWD, according to Nograles, is now finalizing the government’s Social Amelioration Program, which seeks to provide financial assistance to households that have been affected by the suspension of work during the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine.