More than 11k Makati public school grads to get cash aid — Abby Binay

MANILA, Philippines — More than 11,000 public school graduates in Makati City will receive financial assistance as the enhanced community quarantine runs through until May 15, the local government of Makati City said Tuesday.

Grade 6 and Grade 12 graduates are the recipients of the P1,000 and the honor graduates are the beneficiaries of P2,000 to P5,000 cash aid, according to Mayor Abby Binay.

“For the first time, we will be awarding a P1,000-cash incentive to all non-honor graduates from Grade 6 and Grade 12, residents, and non-residents alike. We would like to help augment their family’s resources, most especially those whose parents have lost their livelihood while the enhanced community quarantine remains in effect,” Binay said in a statement.

To reduce the risk of transmission of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, the cash aid will be sent through GCash account.

But Binay assured the graduates that their parents or guardians need not have an “existing GCash account since one can be made for them using their mobile phone number, regardless of the service provider.”

Latest COVID-19 tally from the Makati Health Department showed that there are 336 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease including 81 recoveries and 35 deaths.