Poor families in cities and provinces where enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been lifted will no longer receive the second batch of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash assistance.
SAP is a program of national government through Department of Socia Welfare and Development (DSWD) in which 18 million identified poor families will receive P5,000 to P8,000 in two months (April and May) while the country is under ECQ due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it will cost the government P205 billion.
In an announcement on Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that they will “reprioritize the SAP cash subsidy to ECQ areas.”
“Iko-consider po ang reprioritizing ng SAP cash subsidy towards ECQ areas. Ang SAP po na para sa areas na hindi na po under ECQ, siyempre ang cash subsidy ay kinakailangan na ibuhos sa mga areas under ECQ pa rin,” Roque said.
In an interview over CNN The Source, Roque added that the remaining P105 billion for the month of May will be limited to families in Metro Manila and other areas that remain under lockdown.
“We will pour the next P105 billion to areas under ECQ. That’s a difficult decision which the President did to uphold everyone’s right to life,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases to extend the ECQ in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon.
IATF also listed Benguet, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Zambales, Antique, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Cebu, Cebu City, Davao del Norte, Davao City, and Davao de Oro as high-risk areas which need extended lockdown, but subject to revalidation. (via CNN Philippines)
