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[phgq]

P106-B subsidy to be distributed to 4.3M 4Ps families next year

#PHnews: P106-B subsidy to be distributed to 4.3M 4Ps families next year

MANILA – The government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will receive an allocation of some PHP106 billion next year to provide cash grants to around 4.3 million poor families for their children’s health and education needs, a House leader said on Monday.

Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero, one of the authors of the law institutionalizing 4Ps, said the funding for the financial aid comprises the bulk of the proposed PHP169.3-billion 2021 budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The 4Ps funding for next year represents an increase of PHP5 billion over this year’s allocation of PHP101 billion.

“The increase means that more poor families will receive financial assistance from the government,” he said.

The program grants a monthly subsidy of up to PHP1,500 to qualified families, provided they comply with certain conditions, including keeping children in school and attending family development sessions.

Romero noted that the total appropriation for 4Ps for 2021 actually amounts to PHP113.8 billion, including PHP7.8 billion for administrative cost and other expenses.

Of the PHP7.8 billion, he said PHP4.7 billion will go to salaries, PHP1.6 billion to “cost of service,” PHP289 million to “bank service fees,” PHP432 million to “monitoring and evaluation/spot checks,” PHP393 million to administrative expenses, PHP111 million to training, and PHP27 million to information, education, and printing of manuals and booklets.

Romero, meanwhile, urged state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines, which is the principal conduit of 4Ps cash grants, as well as other participating banks to reduce their service fees.

“A 50-percent reduction will mean an additional P1 billion that could go to beneficiaries or more poor families benefiting from the program,” he said.

Aside from the 4Ps allocation, Romero said DSWD’s PHP169.3-billion budget for 2021 also includes PHP41 billion for social protection programs like medical, transportation and burial assistance, and PHP4.3 billion for disaster response such as the provision of relief goods. (PNA)

  ***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "P106-B subsidy to be distributed to 4.3M 4Ps families next year." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1114664 (accessed September 08, 2020 at 02:18AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "P106-B subsidy to be distributed to 4.3M 4Ps families next year." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1114664 (archived).

[phgq]

Meralco extends 'no disconnection' period until end-October

#PHnews: Meralco extends 'no disconnection' period until end-October

MANILA – Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will extend the period of “no disconnection” until the end of October for consumers who have not settled their unpaid bills amid the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Meralco president and CEO Ray Espinosa made the announcement during the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's hearing on the sudden spike in electricity rates during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period.

"Ie-extend ko yung suspension ng disconnection hanggang end of October, para mas mabigyan ng panahon ang ating mga customers na makalikom ng sapat na pambayad sa kanilang mga bills (I will extend the suspension of disconnection until end of October to give more time for our customers to find more funds to pay their bills)," Espinosa said.

The initial "no disconnection" of service period was until September 30 for consumers' unpaid balances.

Espinosa said they would also provide relief worth around PHP101 million to 2.77 million "lifeline" customers, or those who consume 100 kilowatts per hour and below.

"Makakatanggap sila ng diskwento sa kanilang distribution charge equivalent to a total of PHP101 million. Yan ay ibibigay natin as an additional credit sa kanilang bills na darating (They will be receiving a discount in their distribution charge equivalent to a total of PHP101 million. That will be given as an additional credit in their incoming bills)," he added. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Meralco extends 'no disconnection' period until end-October." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1113194 (accessed August 25, 2020 at 12:33AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Meralco extends 'no disconnection' period until end-October." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1113194 (archived).

[phgq]

Hotel offers facility as center for Covid-19 PUIs

#PHnews: Hotel offers facility as center for Covid-19 PUIs

BAGUIO CITY – A hotel here is offering its facility with 34 rooms as a confinement center for patients under investigation (PUIs) for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Friday.

Magalong said the owners of Lindi Hotel, which is 600 meters from both Baguio General Hospital and the Department of Health-Cordillera office, are offering their rooms to serve the purpose.

“We want to thank the owners of Lindi Hotel by providing its rooms for Covid-19 PUIs,” Magalong said during a media forum.

Owners of the Lindi Hotel, a two-story building on Legarda Road, asked not to be named, Magalong said.

Magalong appealed to the owners of the former Santo Nino Hospital on P. Burgos Road, which has been vacant after its closure some five years ago, to lend the area as a confinement center.

It is owned by the Fernandez family, who owns the Baguio Central University and honored early this year with a street named after the school’s founder Margarita Fernandez.

Magalong said the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) might not be lifted any time soon, with the way things are going.

“I am not that all optimistic that this will not be over in one month, not optimistic with two, three could be probable,” Magalong said. During the special city council meeting on Tuesday, the Local Finance Committee said the money could be augmented coming from the city’s PHP2.2-billion annual budget, but this needs legislation, “especially if the ECQ will be extended beyond the one month.”

On the same day, a total of PHP2.5 million was released from the city’s PHP29 million quick response fund (QRF) which was distributed to the 128 barangay heads as an initial salvo for the food distribution for the “poorest of the poor.”

Another PHP101 million was accessed by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) to help Baguio residents as a 24-hour curfew had been imposed to stop social contact.

Magalong said the second week will be even more crucial as food will be more difficult to get.

“Baka gutom na tao by that time (People could go hungry by that time),” he said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the local government has already distributed food packs with PHP450 worth of food consisting of milk, rice, noodles, and canned goods.

“That is good only for three days for a family of five,” Magalong said even as the city’s quick response fund and that of the barangay will not be enough to buy food for the more than 350,000 residents.

“Soon, we need to augment that,” said Magalong referring to the QRF.

After week 1 scenario

Magalong said the city needs to stock more on alcohol, face masks and the like in the next days.

For alcohol, stocks come regularly but the first to run low due to high demand, the city has ordered in large volumes.

The city is also set to get 500,000 face masks while a disinfection tent will soon be arriving to be used by health workers, for them to be safer from getting infected.

Magalon said there will be more Covid-19 test kits so that there will be “mass testing (even) if we buy.”

To date, there are only 100 test kits which are not used exclusively by residents but even from other provinces with the Baguio General Hospital as a secondary national testing center of the Department of Health.

Magalong is also awaiting the four packs of test kits from the SM Foundation. Each pack contains 250 test kits or a total of 1,000.

Magalong said they are also awaiting a CT scan like apparatus from Huawei that has an artificial intelligence analyzer for the lungs.

As for food supply, Magalong has already asked the city’s big supermarkets to have rolling stores that will cater to the food needs of the 128 barangays covered by 12 districts.

Each district, consisting of five to eight barangays, will have a rolling store. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Hotel offers facility as center for Covid-19 PUIs." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1097352 (accessed March 21, 2020 at 09:49PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Hotel offers facility as center for Covid-19 PUIs." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1097352 (archived).

[phgq]

Baguio to enforce strict quarantine, curfew

#PHnews: Baguio to enforce strict quarantine, curfew

BAGUIO CITY – The city government here will enforce a more stringent community quarantine to align with the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that President Rodrigo Duterte enforced starting Monday night.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong declared a citywide community quarantine from March 13 until April 15 after signing Executive Order 065 due to the spike of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases.

In his latest directive, Magalong’s earlier curfew of 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. has been “superseded by the Luzon curfew which is now 24 hours.”

On Tuesday, Magalong signed EO 67, amending the earlier signed order.

The order will see the Baguio City Police Office “be more strict and checking the purpose of people out and about in our streets starting today, March 18, 2020.”

A second curfew is, however, given from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. which will be for workers who provide essential needs like convenience stores, groceries, hospitals, pharmacies, and drug stores, medical clinics, food preparation, and deliveries.

In signing the latest ECQ, Magalong directed that the BCPO "to intensify patrols to ensure that people are inside their homes except for those performing essential tasks as provided for in the ECQ provisions.”

The order also instructs that government offices should have a skeletal force and people to observe social distancing. It also indefinitely suspends public transport.

He, however, said a single jeepney in one barangay will be on standby to bring people to and from the barangay to buy basic necessities.

“We will allow only one member of the family to go out to go buy items from the market or medicines,” he said during the Ugnayan late afternoon on Tuesday, right after the meeting with the village chieftains.

Jeeps must have 50 percent of its total loading capacity, have a regular stand by place at the area for bringing people to market, and pick up point at the market and time, said Magalong.

"So everything will be coordinated for smooth operation and all should be serviced,” he added.

A special taxi service will be put on an on-call basis for emergency use like bringing people to hospitals for emergency health situations or for medical procedures including regular checkups for pregnant women, elderlies or those still under medical supervision.

Taxis are asked to get a permit from the city so that they can be included in the pool of transport service that can be contacted to provide “emergency service” to the residents who do not have private vehicles.

The market will only be open from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. to give way to the one-hour cleaning time. Buyers and sellers are mandated to use any kind of alternative to mask.

The local finance committee also said the city’s quick response fund (QRF) of PHP29 million could be now utilized to help purchase basic needs like alcohol, face masks and sanitizing agents.

During the special session of the city council, city budget officer Leticia Clemente told councilors that even the General Services Office (GSO) will be traveling to Manila to purchase the materials since most are out of stock in local pharmacies and groceries.

City accountant Antonio Tabin said the barangays will also have their access to their own QRF which they have saved in their own bank.

The Disaster Risk and Rescue Management team has also a PHP101-million fund to be used.

Clemente said all the vehicles issued to all the city’s departments will be pooled and for the disposal of the said emergency group for their use including bringing home city workers deployed as front liners in battling Covid 19.

"Only employees from essential offices like those from the health services office, the mayor’s office, the GSO will be reporting for work, while others could start working at home,” Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan said.

Magalong has also extended the suspension of classes for students until April 15 and told “students to stay home. It was the reason for the suspension of classes for you to stay home.”

The EO provides that private establishments shall be closed with only the essential establishments are allowed minimum operation hours. (PNA)

  ***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Baguio to enforce strict quarantine, curfew." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1096979 (accessed March 18, 2020 at 09:19PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Baguio to enforce strict quarantine, curfew." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1096979 (archived).

[phgq]

Expect surge in flagship projects after signing of 2020 budget

#PHnews: Expect surge in flagship projects after signing of 2020 budget

MANILA -- Senator Sonny Angara on Monday said the signing of the PHP4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2020 by President Rodrigo Duterte signals the start of the implementation of more flagship projects that are meant to improve the lives of the Filipino people.

“The 2020 GAA could be described as the first legacy budget of the Duterte administration. In the last three years of the administration, there will be an uptick in the implementation of infrastructure projects, particularly the flagship projects, which are meant to improve the everyday lives of the people,” Angara said.

Under this year’s national budget, the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance pointed out that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) received a net increase of PHP 51.139 billion.

“The idea is to complete as many projects as possible by the time President Duterte ends his term in 2022. For the more complex projects, the plan is to get the ball rolling already so that the next administration will just continue these and complete them during their term,” he said.

Angara said education and social services, two key areas that are important to Duterte, are also given priority in the 2020 GAA.

He said the conditional cash transfer or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will continue as part of the government’s efforts to reduce poverty in the country, while benefits due to the senior citizens will still be funded in the 2020 budget.

The senator said the 2020 GAA also ensures that health care professionals such as the doctors, nurses, midwives and dentists will continue to be deployed to serve the different communities around the country.

“The Department of Health will be able to continue its hiring of doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, and other health professionals under its Deployment of Human Resources for Health program. A significant number of our ‘kababayans’ are situated in far flung areas and cannot afford to travel when they need medical attention and that is why this program should be sustained and supported,” Angara said.

The PHP4.1-trillion 2020 GAA is 9 percent higher than the PHP3.76-trillion budget for 2019.

Based on the new appropriations, the 10 agencies with the highest budgets are: Education (DepEd, SUCs, CHED, TESDA) -- PHP654.6 billion; DPWH -- PHP580.8 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government -- PHP239.8 billion; Department of National Defense -- PHP191.7 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development -- PHP163.8 billion; DOH -- PHP101 billion; Department of Transportation -- PHP99.3 billion; Department of Agriculture--– PHP62.2 billion; Judiciary -- PHP40.1 billion; and Department of Environment and Natural Resources -- PHP25.5 billion. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Expect surge in flagship projects after signing of 2020 budget." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1090133 (accessed January 07, 2020 at 02:43AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Expect surge in flagship projects after signing of 2020 budget." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1090133 (archived).