Independent think-tank Ibon Foundation warned that 97 percent of 11.4 million poor Filipino households that received cash aid from the government are barely surviving the lockdown.
The research institution also reported that 37 percent of 18 million low-income households are still waiting to receive social amelioration after seven weeks of “enhanced community quarantine.”
The group said that, already so late in the game, the government urgently needs to pick up its pace if it really intends to aid millions of struggling Filipino families.
Ibon noted that recipients of the subsidies only received an equivalent to US$1.59 to US$2.36 per day over the nearly two months of lockdown.
“This is as little as just one-fourth (23%) of the very low official poverty line of about US$7 per day for a family of five,” the group said.
On May 10, the Department of Social Welfare and Development reported more than 15 million of the 18 million household-beneficiaries have already received the emergency subsidy.
