44 Igting and Tabiola of the two payouts of the cash aid (amounting to Php 6,500) was made on the third week of May. The key informants all agreed that the barangay could still improve their procedure for the implementation of social amelioration measures. In terms of processing the cash aid, the residents were asked to line up in long queues, drenched under the heat of the sun, just to submit their accomplished forms at the barangay hall. For the distribution of family food packs, the barangay picked “block leaders” who were tasked to come up with a list of names of beneficiaries. According to Bea, the identification process for food packs seemed arbitrary and subjective, instead of carefully considering the eligibility requirements of the potential beneficiaries. She said: If you have a sari-sari store (neighborhood sundry store), or your house looks somehow presentable, you will not be included in the list … It also seems that the block leaders can personally choose who they want to include in their list. Wennie had the same observation about the identification process. For her, one problem was with the people delegated by the barangay who were not properly following the procedure. She explained: Block leaders tend to prioritize those who are close to them. For people like me who are not always outside the streets and who prefer to stay at home, we are often surprised to learn that there is already a list, and we are not included in it. It is really not fair … We suddenly learned that the “first” round of distribution of food packs already took place. Some people were knocked at their doors and received food packs at dawn. This caused clamor in the community for a proper system. In the second and third time of distribution, block leaders started to make rounds in houses to make their list and distribute stubs for claiming the food packs. But then again, we also learned that there was another round of distribution in other blocks and in other phases. Some blocks, including ours, were not included … If I would be given a voice, I would really say that the assigned personnel should follow the procedure. For me, all households must receive family food packs because all people in our block lost their livelihoods; all people in our block eat … Our barangay captain must take the helm on matters like this. This lack of prudence often led to errors. For instance, Wennie knew someone who was a beneficiary of cash aid but was obviously well-off due to her husband’s