MANILA – State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), the main distribution arm of the government’s financial aid program, has released about PHP46.31 billion worth of subsidies for Filipinos affected by the pandemic.
In a post on its Facebook page, the bank said as of July 1, 2020, bulk of the fund amounting to PHP46 billion benefitted 4.363 million households under the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
The PHP191.38 million was released to 23,922 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Part of this is a social amelioration program (SAP) for drivers which is in line with the Republic Act No. 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, providing PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 subsidy depending on what regions they are located.
Beneficiaries that received aid from the program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) came in third, based on those disbursed by Landbank.
Specifically, 18,061 formal workers from the NCR benefited from the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) and they received a total of PHP90.3 million.
About 2,533 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) received a total of PHP25.33 million worth of aid under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP).
On Tuesday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III suggested the use of technology in the disbursement of government aids to address graft and corruption and ensure the funds will be given directly to the intended beneficiaries. (PNA)
