Manila’s public school students to get food packs, hygiene kits amid pandemic

Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno. INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

MANILA, Philippines – Over 275,000 public school students in the City of Manila, from kindergarten to Grade 12, would receive food packs and hygiene kits as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect lives in the capital city.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said on Thursday that the distribution of these assistance would start next week, with the help of the city’s public school principals.

During a meeting with Manila City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Maria Magdalena Lim, Division of City Schools Property Chief Roland Soriano, and 107 other school principals, it was decided upon that a database of students, classified per barangay, would be created.

“Sa tulong ng inyong mga principal ay idedeliver namin sa inyong kanya-kanyang mga barangay [With the help of the principals we can deliver these packs to your respective barangays],” Moreno said.

This would be for the efficient delivery of the packs and tracking of the distribution process.  By the time it is distributed to the barangays, only parents or official guardians of the student would be allowed to receive the aid.

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the national government to place Luzon and other areas under an enhanced community quarantine, work except for essential services, was suspended to avoid local coronavirus transmission.

However, this has also left workers — especially those who rely on daily wages and earnings and those whose jobs do not fit a work-from-home scheme — without any  income through the lockdown period.

Earlier, Moreno also announced that 680,000 families in Manila would get another P1,000 cash aid from the local government, after the original city ordinance was amended to accommodate more beneficiaries.

Initially, the Manila Public Information Office said they recorded over 607,000 families enlisted in the City Amelioration Crisis Assistance Fund (CACAF).  But there were 896 barangays who updated their lists, which increased the amount of beneficiaries.

JPV