QC expands financial assistance program for vulnerable sectors

CALOOCAN CITY, April 24 (PIA)–The Quezon City government has earmarked P600 million from its P2.8-billion supplemental budget for 2020 to expand the coverage of its Kalingang QC financial assistance program to all vulnerable sectors.

In a statement, Mayor Joy Belmonte said the city government saw the pressing need to expand the financial aid program after many ambulant and unregistered vendors were discovered during the first wave of assistance given to sectors due to COVID-19 crisis.

Among the unregistered vendors who were not covered during the initial distribution of P2,000 cash aid are sellers of dry goods and cellular phone accessories, she added.

The expanded program will also cover solo parents, persons with disability (PWDs) and senior citizens who are also affected by the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We want to make sure that all vulnerable sectors will be covered so we allotted part of our supplemental fund for them,” she said.

The local government earlier allotted P200 million for 100,000 QC residents, covering drivers of public utility jeeps, tricycles, pedicabs, taxis, Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS), and UV Express, market vendors, and other daily wage earners affected by the ECQ.

Rogelio Reyes, head of the Public Employment Service Office (PESO), said that as of April 21, around 36,582 beneficiaries have already received P2,000 each from the city government.

Reyes said the local government faces a huge logistics challenge when it comes to the distribution of the cash aid to the city’s more than 200,000 senior citizens.

“Pinag-aaralan pa ang logistics. Mahirap dahil senior citizens are not allowed to go out of their homes because they are high risk to COVID-19,” Reyes explained.

He also said going house to house with huge sums of money for distribution to the city’s seniors could make social workers and treasury staff susceptible to hold-ups, and would therefore require tight security.

Aside from the Kalingang QC program, the city’s P2.8-billion supplemental budget will fund the food packs distributed to residents and the payment of hazard and risk pay to its employees. (QC PAISD/PIA-NCR)

source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1039914