Mayor asks well-off constituents to waive aid

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MANILA - Pasig City will shell out P1 billion to help its residents rebuild their lives, nearly a month into the lockdown of the entire Luzon to slow the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Vico Sotto said Wednesday.

Cash aid from the national government will only cover 93,000 of Pasig's poorest families. The city government withdrew from its trust fund and postponed some projects to give P8,000 each to 150,000 other families, said Sotto.

"Hindi po kailangan na botante. Basta residente ng Pasig bibigyan po," he told DZMM.

(They don't need to be voters. They will receive aid as long as they're residents of Pasig.)



The local government, he said, lacked time and data to determine who among its residents should or should not get the supplemental assistance from the city. Sotto urged well-off residents in his city to decline the aid.

"Io-open natin sa lahat [ang assistance]. Hinihikayat na lang po natin iyong mga may kaya o okay pa na naman na huwag na lang nilang tanggapin iyong tulong or tanggapin nila, ibigay nila sa mas nangangailangan," he told DZMM.

(We will open the assistance to everyone. We are encouraging wealthy residents or those who are still doing okay to decline the aid or accept it then give it to those who need it more.)

The city government has yet to get the social welfare department's approved list of 93,000 families that the national government will help, said Sotto.

It will take 7 days to distribute this assistance and "another one to 2 weeks" to give out the city aid, he said.

Aside from the cash, the city also distributed some 400,0000 relief packs to residents and food coupons to public school students.

Metro Manila and the entire Luzon, home to about half of the Phillippines' 100 million, are on lockdown until April 30.