PASIG City has started piloting a new financial assistance program for indigent, bedridden residents, offering regular support delivered directly to beneficiaries’ homes or through automated teller machines (ATM), Mayor Vico Sotto announced on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Sotto said the initiative is among the city’s newest social protection programs and is designed to ensure consistent assistance for residents who are unable to leave their homes due to serious health conditions.
Earlier on Wednesday, the mayor joined the staff of the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) to observe the pilot rollout and assess how the program is being implemented on the ground, where the local chief personally visited the first set of beneficiaries.
He said the financial assistance amounts to about P6,000 per year.
“This assistance may not be that big, but the good thing is that the relatives will no longer have to line up or take their chances, because the financial assistance will be regular and will be delivered house-to-house or through an ATM,” Sotto said.
The mayor said the program removes the need for family members of bedridden residents to repeatedly apply for aid, easing the burden on households caring for loved ones with limited mobility.
Sotto clarified that senior citizens are not included in the program because they are already covered under the city’s local senior citizens pension program.
