A week after the local government of Quezon City started its financial aid distribution, it has extended help to 276,000 families in the city.
Data from the City Treasurer’s Office showed that as of April 13, 2021, around 276,389 families or an estimate of more than 865,000 individuals have already received their financial aid or ayuda provided by the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
This equates to around 35% of the estimated target of 800,000 family beneficiaries of the P2.48 billion budget allocated to Quezon City.
“This is an achievement already given that it has just been a week since we started distribution and considering the number of people that we have to cover before the 15-day deadline set for all cities in Metro Manila,” QC Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
Belmonte explained that the city government used the beneficiaries’ list of the DSWD Social Amelioration Program (SAP), Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and also some of the waitlisted beneficiaries of SAP who belong to the low-income bracket and in vulnerable sectors.
Based on the report of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Quezon City ranked second on a percentage basis among local government units in NCR Plus which have distributed the most assistance to its constituents.
City Administrator Michael Alimurung shared that the city government has employed strategies to organize the system of distribution such as distributing stubs according to the schedule set, implementing per street or alphabetical scheduling, and limiting the number of people per day in payout centers to 2,000.
“With the help of our barangays, we have improved the system to ensure that people will receive the aid in an orderly manner and that the basic health protocols such as social distancing will be implemented. Bear in mind that on a daily basis, we are distributing aid to a population the size of other cities so in terms of absolute numbers we are serving quite a significant number of beneficiaries,” Alimurung said.
The QC government also established Grievance and Appeals Committees located in every distribution site for evaluation and consideration of those individuals or families who are not on the list.
“If they are not on the list, they may approach our grievance committees and appeal that they also deserve to be on the list. They just need to present pertinent documents,” Alimurung explained.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently announced that despite the shift of the NCR Plus, including Quezon City, to a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), the distribution of financial aid will continue. The city government will continue its commitment to distribute help to those who are financially challenged during this time.
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