Taguig to give quarantine aid of P4,000 each to 100,000 families

MANILA, Philippines — More than 100,000 families in Taguig City not covered by the administration’s social amelioration program (SAP) would each get P4,000 from the local government instead.

In a virtual address, Mayor Lino Cayetano said the cash assistance would form part of the city’s own “Taguig Amelioration Program” to ensure that everyone would receive aid during the enhanced community quarantine.

“We allotted P1 billion so that all will receive P4,000 cash assistance from the local government. We are more or less 270,000 families here in Taguig,” he added.

The P1 billion will be taken from the city’s P2-billion supplemental budget while the other P1 billion shall go to the city’s preparations to fight the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including the purchase of medicines, and the distribution of relief goods

Cayetano said only 92,000 families in the city would benefit from SAP. A total of 10,000 others would be covered by the Pantawid Pampamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

The city will also start SMART testing for COVID-19 this week, targeting five barangays daily.

Cayetano told residents that the mass testing, also known as Systematic Mass Approach to Responsible Testing (SMART), would be done through the city’s epidemiology and disease surveillance unit.

/atm