Every family in Pasig City can expect to get a “Pamaskong Handog” or Christmas basket brought straight to their doorstep this year—a small but conspicuous change for a local government that gave out only 180,000 baskets in 2018. Mayor Vico Sotto, who began the distribution on Thursday, said this year’s 400,000 packages would be “free of politics and given even to nonsupporters,” a dig at former Mayor Robert Eusebio, whom he once accused of using the gift-giving as a political tool. The packages are worth about P600 each and include 2 kilos of rice, canned goods and pasta noodles meant for each household’s traditional “Noche Buena.” The local government had freed up funds for more packs by reducing the supposedly bloated expenses of the previous administration. Sotto, who has been critical of Eusebio’s alleged culture of patronage in City Hall, claimed that in previous years, the gift baskets were handed out only to specific organizations that were openly supportive of the former mayor. Organizations that gave lukewarm support could likely count on just half of their members receiving a package, while opponents went empty-handed, according to Sotto. This year, roughly 2,000 local government employees will help deliver the packages, which cost P260 million, over the next two weeks. “This is a large amount, but it won’t be wasted,” Sotto said. “It goes straight to the people.”—MATTHEW REYSIO-CRUZ

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