Those in need of financial aid can still avail of assistance from the country’ social amelioration program. The distribution of benefits will continue during the modified enhanced community quarantine, the Inter-Agency Task Force said Friday.
Partner financial service providers in charge of distributing the funds will be allowed to operate at full capacity. This means employees working for them will also be granted full mobility during MECQ in order to help in the distribution, the IATF said.
Beneficiaries will be allowed limited movement to claim and receive their benefits.
Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan are currently under MECQ until Aug. 18 in an effort to slow COVID-19 infections and prevent hospital systems from being overwhelmed. The stricter quarantine entails closed businesses and suspended operations while the citizens are required to stay home.
The MECQ bought the government time to review its pandemic-fighting strategy to test more individuals, increase bed capacity, treat patients and ramp up contact-tracing.
The Philippine economy is officially in recession due to COVID-19, with the gross domestic product shrinking by 16.5 percent in the April to June quarter. The fight is far from over, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said, adding the country must “conserve our resources for the succeeding rounds of this fight.”