No more aid despite ECQ extension in NCR Plus: Palace

Malacañang announced Monday that the government would not provide additional aid for residents affected by the extended enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented over the NCR Plus bubble.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the P1,000 worth of aid (cash or in-kind) is the final assistance extended to workers since they did not report to work for three days because of the Holy Week observance.

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“Traditional naman po na ang pasok lang naman talaga ay Monday to Tuesday [kapag Mahal na Araw], kaya dalawang araw lang po talaga ang nawala na kita sa ating mamamayan,” Roque said in an ANC interview.

(It has been a tradition that people only go to work on Monday and Tuesday during Holy Week, so the lost income is only for two days.)

The national government is expected to release the P1,000 per individual or a maximum of P4,000 per family assistance to local government units this week.

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“The P4,000 per family… that will never be enough, but the nature of ayuda is to help [the family] pass this period na hindi makakapagtrabaho. ‘Yun na po ‘yun,” Roque said.

No more aid despite ECQ extension in NCR Plus: Palace

(The nature of the aid is to tide the family over until they can go back to work again. That amount would be it.)

Last week, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the government would have no budget to provide another round of  if the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) be extended.

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“One-time financial assistance lang po ito. Pagka ito ay tumagal pa, hindi na sasapat. Kaya hanggang doon lang po ang kaya nating gawin sa kasalukuyan,” Avisado said.

(This is only one-time financial assistance. If it (lockdown) is extended, government funds will not be enough. So this is all we can do at present.)

The Development Budget Coordination Committee led by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), has not discussed the possibility of providing a second tranche of assistance of ECQ affected areas.

“Kaya po ‘di natin masasabi na kapag ito ay tumagal pa eh meron pa tayong ibibigay. Wala po kaming pinag-uusapan na ganyan. Ang atin ay one-time assistance ang kaya nating gawin sa ngayon,” he said.