Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Cebu City are yet to receive their cash aid from City Hall. | CDN File Photo
Cebu City, Philippines — The fifth month of the year is about to end, but the Cebu City government is yet to release the cash aid for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Councilor Alvin Dizon has asked Mayor Edgardo Labella to already facilitate the release of the allocation which was included in this year’s annual budget.
Just like the senior citizens, PWDs are supposed to receive cash aid of P12, 000 per year from City Hall.
While the distribution of P3, 000 representing the seniors’ aid for the months of January to March was already made starting on May 20, PWDs in the city continue to wait for the release of their share of government aid.
In a resolution which the City Council passed during their session on Friday night, Dizon said that the PWDs, just like other sectors of the society, were also badly affected by the pandemic which resulted in the loss of their livelihoods, thus the need for government aid.
“The PWD sector is one of the sectors greatly affected by this Covid-19 pandemic since the lockdown, which has already lasted for two months. [It] rendered them jobless given the reality that a substantial number of our PWDs are employed as massage therapists in malls and other commercial establishments,” said Dizon’s resolution.
Just like the industries, massage parlors and other establishments offering wellness services have been ordered closed with the implementation of enhanced community quarantine in the city on March 28.
“We requested the Executive Department to release the much-needed financial assistance to our Persons with Disabilities for them to be able to address their most basic necessities such as food, water, medicines, at this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Dizon’s resolution, a copy of which will soon be sent to Labella for action.
A 26-year-old PWD from Barangay Inayawan told CDN Digital in a phone interview that the release of the financial assistance from City Hall will greatly help her family.
Marie (not her real name) said that she has been unable to earn since the massage parlor that is located inside a mall, where she used to work for, was ordered close two months ago.
She is also unable to find alternative sources of income because of travel restrictions imposed during the ECQ. / dcb