Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso announced Tuesday the awarding of incentives of P100,000 to COVID-free barangays in the capital city would be extended indefinitely.
Domagoso, in a statement, stressed the fight against the coronavirus, specially in the “prevention phase”, was a shared responsibility of the city government and the barangays.
Domagoso said he had signed Executive Order 45, which paved the way for the extension of the program giving incentives to barangays that have remained COVID-free for the past two months by providing them P100,000 each.
With a total of 73 out of 896 barangays thus registering no fresh cases of COVID-19 for two straight months from September 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020, Domagoso said giving incentives to the barangays proved to be effective in stemming the number of infections specially in the grassroots level.
As such, Domagoso said he and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan would provide a new round of cash incentives for barangays with zero COVID-19 cases from December 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. If the 73 barangays are able to maintain their COVID-free status for the next two months, they will again get P100,000.
EO 45, Domagoso said, would be forwarded to the Manila City Council headed by Lacuna-Pangan as the presiding officer, for the provision of funds.
The City Budget Officer meantime, is directed to coordinate with the Manila City Council for the said purpose.
Domagoso said that under the scheme, the statistics were verified thoroughly by Manila Health Department headed by Dr. Arnold Pangan, which, along with the Department of Health, constantly informed authorities about the COVID statistics in the city.
In the same order, Domagoso said the MHD and the Manila Barangay Bureau under its director Romeo Bagay would be collaborating to oversee the implementation of the EO and then submit reports to the mayor’s office from time to time.
“While the city already achieved several milestones in its fight against COVID-19, the city, nonetheless, admits that more is needed to be done,” Domagoso said.
He added: “Cognizant of the limited resources of the barangays, the city finds it imperative to motivate its barangays in this fight (against COVID) by providing them with incentives which can also serve as assistance in maximizing their efforts.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the city of Manila has vigorously adopted and sustained massive measures and strategies ranging from prevention, response to treatment, among others, in its fight against the coronavirus.
These have produced satisfactory results and began restoring the public trust and confidence in social and economic institutions in the city.