President Duterte has approved the release of a total of P3.783 billion to provide cash aid to residents affected by the hard lockdown in Laguna and Bataan as well as to augment the funds for dole outs in 11 out of 17 cities in Metro Manila.
Budget Undersecretary and spokesman Rolando Toledo said they received the President’s approval on Thursday morning and they are eyeing to release the funds today (Friday) to the Bureau of the Treasury for it to be credited to authorized servicing banks of concerned local government units (LGUs).
“Katatanggap lang namin ng approval ng presidente ngayong umaga at kasalukuyan pong hinahanda ng DBM [Department of Budget and Management] ang mga kinakailangan na budget documents para agarang mai-release ang cash aid natin para doon sa Bataan, Laguna at ‘yung additional natin para sa National Capital Region,” Toledo said at the recent Laging Handa briefing.
Toledo said they will also be issuing a new local budget circular to guide the LGUs in releasing the funds.
The bulk of the total amount or P2.715 billion will go to Laguna while Bataan will take P700 million.
Of the total P3.783 billion, Toledo said Metro Manila will receive P368 million, higher than the P278 million earlier requested by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). This would be on top of the P10.894 billion that the DBM released last week to fund the cash aid program for Metro Manila.
With the additional P368 million, Toledo said this brings the total cash aid for the two-week lockdown in Metro Manila to P11.262 billion.
“Kasi ’yung unang release po natin para sa NCR [National Capital Region] ay based sa estimated population but mas maganda na po para walang magreklamo, minabuti na po namin na ang basehan po ay doon sa listahan ng nakaraang pagbibigay ng ayuda,” Toledo said.
To recall, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año appealed to President Duterte for an additional P278 million for cash aid to cover all the beneficiaries in the country’s capital, citing the list of recipients of the government’s dole out back in April as their basis.
Out of the P368 million in additional cash aid to be released in specific cities in Metro Manila, Quezon City is set to receive the biggest amount at P110 million. It was followed by Taguig (P83 million), Parañaque (P48 million), Manila (P35 million), and Pasig (P32 million).
Caloocan, Valenzuela, Pasay, Malabon, San Juan, and Pateros will not receive additional funds for cash aid, based on the breakdown shown during the briefing.
In a separate message to BusinessMirror, Toledo said the funding for P3.783 billion will be sourced from the balance of the certified savings from the FY 2020 Continuing Appropriations in line with Administrative Order 41 and from the certified excess revenue collections by the Bureau of the Treasury.