MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will push local governments to finish the distribution of social aid for people in areas placed last August under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last August, Secretary Eduardo Año said.
Año showed a report on the COVID-19 aid distribution during President Rodrigo Duterte’s taped briefing on Wednesday night, showing that Laguna and Bataan had distribution rates of 99.08% and 80.33%, respectively.
In Laguna, only three local government units have not completed disbursements — San Pedro with 99.76%, Santa Cruz with 98.49%, and Calamba with 94.48%.
In Bataan, two LGUs — Samal and Abucay — have completed disbursements, while only Mariveles and Dinalupihan have distributed less than 70 percent of the social aid disbursed to the province.
In Bataan, the distribution of the aid was at 80.33% — that is, 560,901 beneficiaries, Año said.
Metro Manila has already finished disbursing the social aid, which was mandated by the Bayanihan laws for areas under an ECQ status.
As of now, most areas have reverted to lower quarantine restrictions as the country recorded fewer COVID-19 cases.
However, the total number of cases remained high, as the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday recorded 15,592 new infections, pushing the active case count to 162,580.
READ: COVID-19 hits 15,592 more individuals