Community Responses and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic 33 mga pamilya ang pagkain kaysa sa cellphone o gadget.” (The poor families’ priority is food security instead of cellular phones or gadgets needed for online learning.) He expects that in the ASAMBA community alone, around 50 percent of the school children will drop out this school year. For those who have enrolled, there might still be dropouts in the middle of the term when classes resume. “ ‘ Yung nanay, hindi niya maasikaso ang mga bata dahil magbabantay at maglalako pa siya ng paninda niya. Ang tatay, three days na lang ang pasok. Magbabayad pa ng renta sa bahay. May mga kaso na ng renters na umuwi na ng probinsya dahil sa kakulangan ng budget para panggastos sa pamilya at pambayad sa renta ng bahay.” (The mother cannot attend to this home-based education of her children because she has to peddle her goods for a living. The father only has three-day work these days. There is the house rent that has to be paid. There have been cases of families deciding to return to the province due to lack of budget for household expenditures including rent.), Eddie discussed. Defying the dole-out mentality ASAMBA’s COVID-19 response demonstrates their autonomy and ability to selfgovern. This has made them flexible in addressing immediate concerns of their community and less reliant on government dole-outs. “ So kami inunahan na namin, may monitoring na kami. May sarili po kaming diskarte. Tumayo po kami sa aming sariling paa. Okay lang kung may relief; kung wala, ayos lang. Self-reliant naman kami. Marami pa ring hindi nakakuha ng ayudang pera, lalo na mga senior citizen, pero lahat nabigyan ng food packs.” (We moved ahead by setting up a monitoring system right away. We have our own initiatives. We stood on our own feet. Whether we get external relief or none is fine because we are self-reliant. While there were those who did not receive emergency cash subsidy from the government, especially senior citizens, everyone received food packs.) This is how Eddie described their actions from the very beginning of the lockdown. He continues to volunteer as a gatekeeper and oversees the officers whenever he is off from his day job. Until present, gatekeepers continue to guard the gates for 24 hours with two shifts. Nevertheless, the food packs and emergency funds from the government arrived. Residents availed of the SAP from both the national government and the local government of Quezon City. Those who have been included in the list of qualified persons to receive the SAP received Php 8,000 from the DSWD. For those who were left out, the local government provided Php 4,000. Apart from that, there were those who received Php 2,000 through the local Kalingang QC program. The payout was even done in ASAMBA’s locale, with the assistance of the local frontliners.