MANILA - Residents of Valenzuela City will receive food vouchers worth P500 to P700 during the region-wide lockdown of Luzon, its mayor said Thursday.

The city government coordinated with local groceries where some 75,000 families can use the vouchers, according to Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian.

Home to some 600,000 people, Valenzuela borders Metro Manila to the north and is home to many factories.

"It’s up to the families to go to the groceries and pick up the sustenance they need," he told ANC.

The city council will convene for a special session to approve the release of all benefits and salaries of government workers without deductions, Gatchalian added.

"Everybody now is a victim and the city councilors, togetehrr with the vice mayor understands that our contractual workers are job order workers are also in dire need in these times," he said.

"Government is one of the biggest employers so we have to take case of our employees. Just like what the private sector is doing with their employers now."

The city earlier declared a state of calamity due to the virus outbreak, which has claimed 17 lives in the Philippines and infected 202 others.

• Valenzuela City placed under state of calamity amid COVID-19 threat
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