The city council during its regular session on April 13 allocated certain amounts to bolster the various COVID-19-related operations of the city and the different barangays through two ordinances approved on first reading dispensing with the second and third and final readings.
Both ordinances were signed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong on April 17, 2020.
By virtue of Ordinance 40, s.2020, the amount of P78 Million has been appropriated for programs, projects, and activities of the City in its fight against the deadly disease, subject to the guidelines provided by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The ordinance states that the City Government will use the said fund to procure personal protective equipment (PPEs) for the frontline service providers; provide basic necessities and other essentials for low-income and vulnerable households such as food, medicines and vitamins, medical equipment/supplies, disinfectants, and transportation/accommodation allowance, among others; and to buy tents to be used as temporary shelters for the homeless.
The said amount will be drawn from the Bayanihan Grant to Cities and Municipalities (BGCM). Pursuant to the BGCM, the Department of Budget and Management released P30.8 Billion to finance the cities’ and municipalities’ anti-Coronavirus campaign.
All the aforementioned purposes of the recently appropriated fund under Ordinance 40, s. 2020 conform with the prescribed COVID-19-related programs, projects, activities (PPAs), and expenses under Local Budget Circular No. 125, dated April 7, 2020.
Also, by virtue of Ordinance 41, s. 2020, the amount of P10 million has been appropriated from the P150 million approved supplemental budget, subject to the guidelines of the DBM.
The ordinance states the P10 million appropriated amount is intended to be used by the city’s 128 barangays in addressing the COVID-19 crisis in their respective jurisdictions.
The ordinance also stipulates that the barangays will use the allocated funds to sustain their ongoing COVID-19-related operations such as the distribution of relief goods to their constituents using their quick response funds; and the activation of the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERT) which are responsible for tracking persons with history of foreign travel, identification of persons under monitoring (PUMs) and persons under investigation (PUIs), informing the City Health Office of suspected individuals after being identified as PUMs, and monitoring of PUMs on a daily basis.
“With the extended ECQ until April 30, 2020, there is a need to continue said relief operations for the most affected people without any means of income for them to survive,” the ordinance reads.
The ordinance further explains that there is a need for the City Government to provide the barangays the necessary funds for their everyday expenses as their respective budgets have already been depleted.
The grant of funds for the operational expenses differ from barangay to barangay, the ordinance states. Thirty-nine barangays will be allocated with P60,000.00 each; 51 barangays with P80,000.00 each; 37 barangays with P100,000.00 each, and one barangay with P120,000. 00.** Jordan G. Habbiling
