Some Manila residents regret being affected by the two-week enhanced community quarantine but have not received aid from the government.
They are among the barangays in Manila that are on the list of those who did not submit the social amelioration program form.
In the list of the Manila Public Information Office, there are 34 barangays that have not submitted their beneficiaries’ forms for approval by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
According to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, they provided 100 SAP forms per barangay but some barangays only returned the forms that the residents had not yet completed.
As a result, the residents of the 34 barangays are still not receiving anything even though many are in need and their livelihoods have been affected.
In Barangay 270 in Binondo, many street vendors were unemployed for two weeks because they were not allowed to go out during the ECQ, so they wasted P4,000 in aid from the national government for their needs.
Those not included list of SAP beneficiaries in Manila appeal
According to barangay chairman Adora Usero, they did not distribute SAP forms because 100 forms were not enough for their residents.
“Kulang pa po pag ‘yun ay tinanggap ko. Para sa akin, ito po ay wag na lang tanggapin para wala pong magkaroon ng samaan ng loob sa meron sa wala, pareho pong wala,” said Usero.
Residents are still appealing for help to reach them even though MECQ is implemented in NCR Plus and most of them are still unable to recover their livelihood.
According to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, they have already received more than P1.5B in funding from the national government to be allocated for poor families and other vulnerable sectors affected by the ECQ – which has further limited employment in some industries to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
An estimated 380,000 families in Manila will receive assistance.
It will be recalled that the ECQ was extended by a week or more in the NCR Plus Bubble. That is, people can only go out for essential activities such as working, shopping for food, medicine, going to the hospital, and so on.