The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor on Sunday said that the distribution of the 18,000 interim shelter fund for the beneficiaries of the Oplan Likas program of the Department of Interior and Local Government would continue despite the pandemic.
Chairman and chief executive Alvin Feliciano vowed to pursue the distribution and make it even faster to help the poor, especially those who have lost their jobs and could not travel.
“Since there is no transportation yet, PCUP personally delivers the checks house to house, and also, to avoid gathering of people to help stop the spread of the virus,” he said.
The program aimed to help ease the burden of displaced informal settlers living on major waterways and hazardous areas in Metro Manila.
The PCUP Resettlement Unit has already distributed checks to 1,793 beneficiaries from 2017 to 2019.
Under quarantine in May and July, the agency has reached 200 beneficiaries brought directly to relocation sites in Pandi, Bulacan; Calamba, Laguna; Bocaue, Bulacan; Trece Martires, Cavite; Rodriguez, Rizal; SJDM, Bulacan; Teresa, Rizal; Baras, Rizal, and Norzagaray, Rizal.
The DILG is currently processing over 18,000 claimants.
For September alone, It is ready to endorse to PCUP the list of beneficiaries in Parañaque Homes II, Parañaque City, and an additional 20 individuals living in other NHA and Social Housing Finance Corporation’s shelter programs.