Photo from Mayor Kit Nieto’s Facebook post
MANILA, Philippines — In order to raise more funds for Cainta residents who were adversely affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, Mayor Johnielle Keith Pasion Nieto has decided to put some of his personal belongings for auction.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Nieto noted that of the 320,000 residents in the municipality, only more than 37,000 were given social amelioration cards to receive financial assistance from the national government.
According to the mayor, Cainta has no sufficient funds to provide cash subsidy to all families not covered by the social amelioration program.
“Naisip kong mag-auction ng ilang gamit ko tas ‘yung proceeds bigay ko sa mga hindi na cover.. makatulong kahit paano..Start ko sa 3 kong rubber shoes,” he said, showing photos of three pairs of rubber shoes in his post.
(I thought about setting up an auction for some of my personal items then the proceeds will be given to those who were not covered [by the social amelioration program] so that I can help somehow. I’ll start with these three rubber shoes.)
The shoes were being auctioned at base prices of P13,000, P30,000, and P10,000.
“Araw araw hanggang matapos ang quarantine, mag auction ako ng 3 pares hanggang maubos ang virus o maubos ang koleksyon ko [Everyday until the quarantine ends, I will auction off three pairs until either the virus or my collection is gone],” he said.
In a separate social media post, Nieto said the local government has also been receiving donations of goods from private entities, which are being distributed to its residents.
Cainta has also set up mobile markets to allow residents have easier access to basic goods during the imposition of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine. Supplies were also being handed out to residents adversely affected by the crisis.
As of 8 a.m. Monday, Cainta has already recorded 52 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, nine have died and two have recovered.
The municipality, under the province of Rizal, also has 193 suspected and probable cases of the disease.