Solon warns SAP implementers of charges if 2nd tranche covers only select ECQ, GCQ areas

MANILA - Government implementers of the Social Amelioration Program during the coronavirus pandemic could face charges if they exclude areas with less strict quarantine restrictions from the second tranche of financial assistance, Cong. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City said Thursday.

Covering only select areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ) for the second tranche of SAP implementation violates the Bayanihan to Heal As One law and the Anti-Graft law, Rodriguez said in a statement.

It will also deprive poor families in most parts of the country of the financial aid "since only Metro Manila and some parts of Cebu are under ECQ and GCQ," the statement said.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, only the following areas are covered by the new wave of assistance:

- Region III except Aurora Province;
- National Capital Region (NCR);
- CALABARZON;
- Benguet;
- Pangasinan;
- Iloilo;
- Cebu Province;
- Bacolod City;
- Davao City;
- Albay Province; and
- Zamboanga City

The target beneficiaries are 8.5 million low income families in ECQ areas, and some 3.5 million waitlisted families from the 5 million additional families approved by President Rodrigo Duterte for inclusion in the program, the DSWD said.

The program will provide each family P5,000 to P8,000, depending on the prevailing wage rate in the area, as quarantine measures disrupt people's livelihood.

"Among those who will not get aid are about 8,000 families who are my constituents in the second district of Cagayan de Oro City," Rodriguez lamented.

"We cannot stop them and other affected families from going to court to challenge the IATF decision," he added, referring to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The initial SAP rollout covered 18 million low-income families in the country, for the months of April and May.

Cebu City is under ECQ until the end of the month, while its neighboring Talisay City is under modified ECQ.

The following areas, meanwhile, are under GCQ:

• Metro Manila
• Cagayan
• Isabela
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Quirino
• Santiago City
• Aurora
• Bataan
• Bulacan
• Tarlac
• Olongapo City
• Cavite
• Laguna
• Batangas
• Rizal
• Quezon
• Occidental Mindoro
• Bohol
• Cebu province
• Negros Oriental
• Siquijor
• Mandaue City
• Lapu-Lapu City
• Davao City
• Zamboanga City

All other areas in the country are under the more relaxed modified GCQ.

• Duterte: Metro Manila remains under general quarantine until June 30

The Philippines has logged 33,069 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 8,910 recoveries and 1,212 fatalities.

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