Community Healthcare in the Time of COVID-19 77
that her husband was not able to receive other government services he was entitled
to such as from the Social Security System (SSS) and from the Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE), but she clarified that this was the responsibility of her
husband’s company.
Sherlito deplored his own experience with regard to accessing financial support
from the government (Conde 2020). Like what Marivic has mentioned earlier, he
also shared that there are those who deserved better government financial support but
did not receive any. He also said that both of his relatives are already senior citizens
and should have been prioritized by the SAP, but they never received any financial
support.
Issues on relief distribution
Aside from the distribution of cash aid from the government, there were also relief
packages provided to residents. However, most of the interviewed BKP members
identified that the relief from the government is too few to cover the large number
of families.
As BKP President, Marivic said that members run to her to ask for relief
from hunger (Atacador 2020). She asked for help from BKP partners to be able to
provide temporary relief to members. Relief goods from the city government were
not sufficient and arrived very slowly. The provincial government also provided relief,
but she noted that these were provided in a selective manner. According to her, the
provincial government prioritized giving relief to those who were not beneficiaries
of the 4Ps program.7 Being part of the 4Ps program, she herself was not qualified to
receive help from the province.
Sherlito reported that he was able to receive government relief, but they are
too few to make an impact (Conde 2020). He was able to receive food packs that
contain sardines, instant noodles, and rice. Some food packs he received from the
local government also contained coffee sachets. He, however, averred that in general,
there are others who are more fortunate in that they were still able to get more
government relief.
Amparo said she received relief from a number of efforts by external institutions
(Escovilla 2020). The first one was provided from a fund drive organized by the
University of the Philippines College of Social Work and Community Development
(UP CSWCD) on March 31, 2020. This was followed by the distribution of gift
7 Started in 2008, and eventually expanded and formally institutionalized by law in 2019,
the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program
implemented by the Philippine government that gives cash grants to the poor, provided that
they will comply with the set of conditions mandated in the program (DSWD n.d.).
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