Around 72 percent of Filipinos received financial cash aids from the government during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) pandemic, according to a recent Social Weather Station survey.
In late March, Duterte was empowered by congress to reallocate the national budget and spend some P200 billion pesos to subsidize 18 million impoverished households. These are eligible for monthly cash assistance of 5,000 to 8,000 pesos for two months.
The SWS survey data said that families who received financial help from the government were highest in Metro Manila (85%), followed by the rest of Luzon (75%), Mindanao (65%), and the Visayas (64%).
The survey noted that the proportion of those saying their families received financial assistance from government was higher among non-elementary graduates (71%), elementary graduates (75%), junior high school graduates (77%), and those with some college (71%), compared to college graduates (58%).
The survey was conducted from July 3 to 6 among 1,555 respondents using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) of 1,555 with sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages.
Seventy-two percent of respondents in both urban and rural areas said they were given money to help them sustain their needs amid the pandemic.
SWS also found that 75 percent of women and 67 percent of men received cash assistance from the government.
The number of adult Filipinos who were provided aid was high among age groups 18 to 24 (70 percent), 25 to 34 (73 percent), 35 to 44 (76 percent), 45 to 54 (77 percent), and 55 and above (62 percent).
The government has implemented various programs aimed at helping Filipinos, especially those who belong to the poor and marginalized sector, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government vowed to complete the distribution of the second tranche of the social amelioration program (SAP2) by the end of July.