One hundred percent of the P11.226 billion ayuda or financial assistance has been completely distributed to qualified beneficiaries affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) as of September 11, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
Interior Sec. Eduardo M. Año said that through the patience and hard work of the NCR local government units (LGUs), more than 11.2 million eligible recipients have received their ‘ayuda’ of P1,000 per low-income individual with a maximum of P4,000 per low-income family.
“My salute to the Metro Manila LGUs [that] have mastered the art of ‘ayuda’ distribution. Bunga nito, mas madali nating naipamahagi ang P11.226 bilyon na tulong sa mga nangangailangan nating mga kababayan sa panahon ng kanilang kagipitan,” Año said.
He added that the quicker distribution of financial aid this time around was evident as some LGUs, by the tail-end of August, had already completed the dissemination, while others are a couple of percentages away from completion as well. The early finishers are Manila, Caloocan, Pasig, Malabon, Navotas, and Quezon City.
“Dahil sa ilang beses na tayong nakapamahagi ng ayuda, na-memorize na ng mga LGUs ang sistema kaya mas mabilis na nakarating sa ating mga kababayan ang tulong pinansyal noong ECQ. Keep up the good work!” he said.
All 17 LGUs of NCR were able to complete the distribution of cash aid from Aug. 11 to Sept. 11 amounting to P11,226,946,000 allotted by the national government following the guidelines set in Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 3, s. 2021 issued by the DILG, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of National Defense; and Local Budget Circular (LBC) No. 138 of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The DILG chief said, however, that the work is not yet done even after the 100% completion of the ‘ayuda’ distribution. He said that stringent liquidation and accounting of every centavo of the distributed cash aid will follow.
He said that a memorandum has been released to the DILG field officers “to ensure that the LGUs fully and timely liquidate the national government subsidy.”
The Fund Utilization Report, he further said, must also be submitted by the Metro Manila LGUs to the DBM and Commission on Audit in compliance with LBC No. 138.
“Inaasahan natin ang mabilis na pagsumite ng report ng mga Metro Manila LGUs bilang patunay na maayos ang naging pamamahagi natin ng ayuda at natanggap ito ng mga target beneficiaries,” he said.
Meanwhile, Año likewise reminded the LGUs to return the unexpended balance, if any, such as in the case of the City Government of Makati which is expected to return P29,402,000.
According to the report of the LGU, they have already saturated their target total of 488,017 eligible beneficiaries which is lower than the number of beneficiaries that can be covered by the fund transferred to the city amounting to P517,419,000.
The DILG earlier reminded LGUs that have unclaimed funds that they may process pending claims lodged before their LGU Grievance and Appeals Committee until Sept. 10, which shall be the final day before the funds should be reverted to the National Treasury. (DILG) – jlo
