Cavite Governor Jonvic C. Remulla admitted on Wednesday that distributing the cash aid to beneficiaries in the province during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) will be challenging.
Governor Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla Jr. (Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated a P3.4 billion-peso financial assistance to beneficiaries within Cavite as per Local Budget Circular No. 136 dated March 30.
The DBM says the provision of assistance to affected individuals must be equivalent to P1,000 per affected individual, with a maximum amount of P4,000.00 per family. In addition to that, LGUs are tasked to determine whether to release the assistance in cash or in kind.
“Here’s the problem: 1. Everyone wants cash. 2. Everyone is demanding the P4K maximum per household. 3. Walang sapat na mekanismo para ma-verifyY kung sino ang maaambunan sa P1,000 to P4,000 range (3. There’s no sufficient mechanism to verify who should receive P1,000 to P4,000),” Remulla lamented on a Facebook post. “The end result? DISASTER.”
Remulla called on Caviteños to be patient with local LGUs as city and municipal mayors are doing a complicated task. He also advised beneficiaries not to keep their hopes up for the second tranche of financial assistance from 2020 which has yet to be released.
According to data from the local budget circular, three of Cavite’s largest cities will get the biggest chunks of financial assistance, namely Bacoor City (P529.7 million), Dasmarinas City (P573.6 million), and the de facto provincial capital Imus City (P447.6 million).
Cavite is grappling anew with a spike in coronavirus-disease (COVID-19) infections, with 3,994 active cases as of March 30, according to data from the Department of Health Center for Health Development Region IV-A.
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