Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Friday said delays in the distribution of cash aid through the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) were caused by quarantine measures and other guidelines.
Roque said in an interview on GMA’s Unang Hirit morning show that local government units had received 100 percent of the first tranche of the financial aid.
“Hindi naman namin talaga sinisisi altogether ang mga LGUs kasi sa parte rin ng nasyonal ‘no, may pabago-bagong guidelines din ano,” Roque said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, said Roque, was of the view that the proposed national ID system would have helped speed up the verification process of the distribution.
The president instructed government agencies to “give now and validate later” following the delays in distribution.
On April 30, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said only 50 percent of the aid was distributed to the target 18,046,093 beneficiaries, but Roque said the 18-million figure increased by approximately four million, as updated data revealed more hunger-afflicted families.
The Palace has extended the deadline of the first tranche of the cash aid distribution to May 7, while the start of the second tranche has yet to be announced by the interagency task force in-charge of the Covid-19 response.
Roque urged families to follow the “appeal procedure” and coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development if they have yet to receive the aid. John Ezekiel J. Hirro