ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas wrote President Rodrigo Duterte a letter appealing that this city be included in the second tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) emergency cash assistance.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases recently recommended that households in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) should no longer be included in the second tranche of SAP assistance.
Iloilo City transitioned from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to GCQ on May 16 but according to Treñas, the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic should not be underestimated.
There is no definite end in sight yet for the pandemic, he pointed out.
“Many of our constituents still need assistance. Despite the quarantine downgrade, the grim effects of the lockdown remain – difficulty in terms of jobs, livelihood and income,” according to Treñas.
Malacañang recently issued an order for the inclusion of five million additional poor families on the list of beneficiaries of the second wave of SAP.
The order, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on May 22, also retained the original number of SAP beneficiaries for the first tranche.
Of particular concern to Mayor Treñas is the informal sector which Republic Act No. 8425 (Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act) defines as “poor individuals who operate businesses that are very small in scale and are not registered with any national government agency, and workers in such enterprises who sell their services in exchange for subsistence-level wages or other forms of compensation.”
“Maayo lang ang iban nga may negosyo, ang ara sa market, kay ti bisan may problema kita sa COVID sige sila. Pero ti ang iban ta nga pumoluyo pigado gid,” said Treñas.
The second tranche of SAP assistance – P6,000 for each qualified household-beneficiary – could greatly help them, he stressed.
“The poorest communities in Iloilo City depend on daily income to survive. Stringent health containment measures led some establishments within the city to cease operation or close down, leaving many of our urban poor and vulnerable households without a way to make a living,” according to Treñas.
He also called the President’s attention to “our senior citizens and persons with disability (who) are more challenged by these times due to their frailty and limits. With our vulnerable sectors’ finances significantly reduced if not wiped out, they can only rely on assistance.”
Data from the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) showed Iloilo City having 79,215 target household beneficiaries in the first tranche of SAP.
Due to unwanted delays, Treñas said, the first tranche of assistance would be completely released to the beneficiaries this Tuesday, May 26, or Wednesday, May 27.
One cause of delay was the additional 6,000 beneficiaries added to the list just recently, he said.
This 6,000 included senior citizens receiving month pensions of less than P6,000.
In an earlier guideline released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, households with any of the following as members may qualify for the SAP assistance:
* senior citizens
* persons with disability
* pregnant women
* lactating mothers
* solo parents
* overseas Filipino workers in distress
* homeless
* informal workers
* occasional workers like househelpers
* drivers of pedicabs, tricycles, taxis, public utility buses, and public utility jeepneys
* micro-entrepreneurs
* sub-minimum wage earners
* farmers, fishermen (provided they are not recipients of assistance from the Department of Agriculture)
* workers in the private sector observing “no work, no pay” (provided they have not availed themselves of the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program of the Department of Labor and Employment)./PN
