Pacquiao: P500 monthly aid not enough; give a sack of rice to poor families instead

FILE PHOTO: Sen. Manny Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines — The P500-per-month subsidy is still not enough for poor families to help them cope with the rising prices of fuel, the government should instead give them one sack of rice, Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao said Tuesday.

The sack of rice would at least last longer instead of the P500 cash assistance.

“‘Yung P500 maliit pa rin yan. Iiyak pa rin ‘yung mga tao diyan, kasi ‘yung P500 sa isang buwan, hindi kasya ‘yan. Siguro bigyan na lang natin ng tig-isang sakong bigas ang bawat pamilya eh mas matagal-tagal pa kaysa P500,” he told reporters.

(The P500 monthly subsidy is still insufficient. The people will still feel the effects of rising fuel prices. Maybe we should give each family one sack of rice because that would at least last longer.)

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Department of Finance to find a way to increase the proposed monthly stipend for poor families from P200 to P500 even if it would cause problems for his successor.

The cash aid approved by Duterte will be given to poor households to help them cope with rising prices of goods amid successive oil price hikes.

JPV