Cavite governor Jonvic Remulla said Tuesday they are already running out of funds for the province’s relief operations and that it could last for only two more weeks.
Remulla made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte said in a public address last night that the Philippine government is inclined to extend the Luzon-wide community quarantine until April 30. The lockdown is set to end next week, April 14.
“We have depleted maybe two-thirds of our capacity, and we have probably two weeks (worth of funds) left to give away,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
The governor cited Cavite local government units (LGUs) have given some 150,000 food packs in the since the quarantine began three weeks ago.
Remulla said the LGUs would need to look for other sources of funds and realign them to the relief goods operations, especially if the lockdown would be extended.
He also said many LGUs might have to cancel some of their development programs for the remaining months of 2020 to allocate funds for the COVID-19 emergency response program.
Cavite Governor Remulla asks Duterte to include middle-class families in social amelioration
In a letter to Duterte, Remulla described the pandemic as “a time of crisis for everyone” and “not just the poorest of the poor, but also those who have built much but not enough.”
“They are often overlooked. They pay the most taxes. They keep our economy alive. They are mostly law-abiding citizens. They need a break,” he said.
The Cavite province has a total population of 4.5 million, of which 35 percent belong to the middle-class.
To date, only 35 percent of residents in the city have received cash aid from the government. Remulla noted these are only the “poorest of the poor.”
“What we did not really (notice) is that the savings of the middle class have completely disappeared in the last three weeks, and they are having a very very difficult time,” he said.
President Duterte agreed with Remullad and called his appeal “valid.” However, he noted that the government’s P270-billion budget for the pandemic COVID-19 was not enough.
“I agree. I know the political-economic horizon of the country,” Duterte said.
The President called on Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez to source out more funds. “In the meantime, we would work double-time for the middle class that you mention,]” Duterte said.
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