MANILA — The Philippine government is giving cash aid to 22.9 million people affected by the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and 4 surrounding provinces, the Department of Budget and Management said Monday.

The "special amelioration assistance" will cover "low income" earners in the capital region and Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces, which are under ECQ, the strictest of 4 quarantine levels, until April 4, said Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado.

President Rodrigo Duterte's former longtime aide Sen. Christopher Bong Go earlier Monday said around P23 billion in funds are available for the planned assistance, which may be given in cash or in kind.

While Avisado did not confirm this figure, he said the aid would come from the "remaining unutilized balances of Bayanihan 2," the country's second pandemic stimulus package.

He said the latest assistance would be "definitely lower than what we have given during the Bayanihan 1." Last year, 18 million families received P5,000 to P8,000 in cash aid each from the government to help them cope with the pandemic.

Avisado said he "cannot say more" because the proposal was under review by Duterte's office.

"But definitely ang sinisuguro po natin, meron pong inihandang ayuda ang ating national government para sa mga naapektuhan ng ECQ sa NCR Plus bubbles," he said.

(But definitely, we ensure that there will be aid from our national government for those affected by ECQ in the NCR Plus bubble.)

The President may finalize the cash aid package during his meeting later Monday with the inter-agency task force leading the country's pandemic response, said his spokesman Harry Roque.

The aid will be distributed around mid-April, he said in the same briefing, quoting Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez

The Philippines is battling a renewed surge in infections, including those of the new and more transmissible variants, prompting the government to tighten existing curbs in the capital and nearby provinces.

Coronavirus cases and deaths in the Philippines totaled 721,892 and 13,170, the second highest in Southeast Asia, with infections reported in the past nine days accounting for a tenth of the total.

— With a report from Reuters

Video courtesy of PTV