Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday called on residents enlisted in the national government’s financial assistance or “ayuda” distribution program to claim their share of monetary aid.
“We encourage everyone listed to claim their ayuda during their designated schedule and venue because if these will remain unclaimed, they will be allocated to other residents who are qualified to receive help as well. We are also not discounting the possibility that a significant number in the unclaimed list may turn out to be duplicates, or some are no longer living in Quezon City,” she said.
As of April 24, 2021, the city government has already distributed 90.71 percent of the P2.481 billion allocated by the national government to qualified beneficiaries.
At least 716,447 families or 2,251,282 individuals have claimed financial aid since April 7.
Some 840,105 families or 2,481,947 individuals each receiving P1,000 are expected to benefit from the total allocated budget to the city, and this represents 80 percent of the city’s total population.
According to Belmonte, a total of 123,658 families (230,665 individuals) have not yet gotten their financial aid, about 80,000 of whom are residing in big barangays scheduled for payout beginning on Tuesday.
Thus, an estimated 40,000 families from the rest of the barangays have not yet claimed their money.
The final list of beneficiaries was culled from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, waitlisted beneficiaries of SAP who belong to the low-income bracket and in vulnerable sectors, and those who are part of the Quezon City Social Amelioration Program.
New co-ed school
Meanwhile, after being an all-girls school for many years, the St. Bridget School in Quezon City is opening its doors to male students starting next school year.
“After a prayerful discrete game considering all the collective outcome of several consultation processes undertaken, it is with great hope and excitement to inform you that St. Bridget School, Quezon City will transition to become a coeducational institution beginning School Year 2021-2022,” Sr. Mary Susan Montano, head of the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) Philippines-Japan, which manages the school, said in a statement on Monday.
She said the decision will allow the institution to be “more responsive to the call of the times”.
“One hundred years later, we will open our doors to offer inclusive quality Catholic education to all Filipino youth regardless of gender, social status, and other social differences,” she added.
The male students will be accepted into its K-12 program.
“Coeducation will be implemented across all grade levels (K-12) making the most of the availability of our online learning platform Bridgetine SPACE as a gradual transition of our current students to interact with their male classmates before the face-to-face classes,” she said.
Montano said the move will help the school become a leader in inclusive private school education.