MANILA, Philippines — More than 77 percent of people affected by COVID-19 lockdowns in the so-called National Capital Region (NCR) Plus have received financial aid from the government, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported Wednesday.
In a televised briefing, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that, as of May 5, a total of 17,687,755 of the 22,915,422 beneficiaries had already accepted the aid.
The number of beneficiaries who have received the financial aid makes up 77.19 percent of the total number of the expected recipients.
“A total of P17.6 billion was what we have distributed out of the P22.9 billion. We will make sure that by May 15 all our countrymen [in the region] will receive aid,” Año said.
Año reported that Metro Manila is already 78.93 percent done with its financial aid distribution; Bulacan is at 76.99 percent; Cavite is at 68.02 percent; Laguna is at 90.28 percent; and Rizal is at 68.41 percent.
In an interview with INQUIRER.net’s INQside Look, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said local government units would no longer be given more extension for the distribution of the financial assistance.
The deadline for the distribution of the aid is on May 15.
“We have not received any request for extension, and according to Secretary Año, we will not grant any further extension because we have given them more than ample time to complete the distribution,” Malaya said.