MANILA, Philippines — With the signing of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act into law, home rental fees are frozen while the enhanced community quarantine over Luzon is in place.

In a statement Wednesday, Senator Grace Poe said this provision she pushed during the special session is aimed at easing the financial burden of tenants who rely on their daily pay checks.

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“Many renters live paycheck to paycheck but during these extraordinary times when they suddenly need to work or not at all, they might not have enough to pay for their rent and may even face the possibility of eviction,” Poe said.

“In pushing for this provision in the bill, we hope to ease the growing financial burden of the pandemic particularly on millions of poor Filipino households,” she added.

Apart from freezing the home rents, Poe said “interests, penalties, fees and other charges shall not be imposed on tenants following the 30-day moratorium on their rental payments.”

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act Wednesday granting him additional powers to adopt “temporary emergency measures” to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the country.

Poe noted the need to fast track the cash subsidy to low-income households which is also among the highlights of the newly signed law.

“One of the things we want to expedite is the downloading of help immediately but allocating goods is not as quick or as fast as downloading cash,” she said.

Some 18 million households are entitled to P5,000 to P8,000 financial aid for two months through the expanded Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

It has been more than a week since Luzon was placed under an enhanced community quarantine which takes effect until midnight of April 13. This limits the public’s movements to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Health officials have so far recorded 552 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a death toll of 35.

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Twenty patients, meantime, have fully recovered.

GSG