Senators Want LGUs to Distribute COVID-19 Cash Assistance
SENATORS – Some senators want the local government units (LGU) to head the distribution of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cash assistance.
Last month, Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte placed the country under a state of calamity to give the local government units enough freedom to use their emergency funds to respond to the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic.
Luzon is currently under “enhanced community quarantine.” Other provinces and cities across the country has also imposed restrictions.
The government allocated P275 billion to help the local government provide aid for the families and individuals who lost their livelihood due to the pandemic. The Republic Act No. 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act envisions to give P5000 to P8000 emergency cash aid to low-income families for two months.
The 75-year-old chief executive ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to distribute the cash. However, some senators said the national government should allow the LGUs to be part of it.
Based on a report from Inquirer, local government committee chairman Sen. Francis Tolentino said the LGUs “know better the demographics in their respective committee.”
“Mechanisms are already in place. [LGU] should be given a greater role as they have more personnel on the ground,” he added.
Tolentino suggested that the agency should consider collaborating with rural banks or other financial establishments to make the dispersal easier and transparent.
According to the report, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said it was a mistake that the government used the “top-down mode of listing and distribution of funds.” He said the local government should be given a greater role in the distribution of cash.
“This is a recurring mistake… [T]here is an obvious disconnect between the national government and the needs and priorities of the rightful recipients… We should all learn from Albert Einstein when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.“
“More than the central government, the LGUs have a better grasp of their constituents’ needs through their community-based surveys being undertaken periodically,” he added.
Based on the report, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian admitted that the distribution of the cash in 1 week is not an easy task. He said the national government should team up with the LGUs.
“Distributing cash aid in one week to 18 million families who do not have ATMs and [without] a national database is no easy feat. How do you find them? How do you validate them? How do you avoid duplication?”
“This should be a partnership with the LGUs and national government, wherein the LGUs will provide the on-the-ground manpower and knowledge while the national government will do the validation and distribution,” he added.
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