Landbank releases cash grants for CCT beneficiaries’ COVID-19 aid

MANILA, Philippines — Beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program will receive money over the weekend as part of the subsidies to vulnerable households during the COVID-19 quarantine.

In a statement Saturday, the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) said P16.35 billion in cash grants had been set aside for 3.72 million poor households under the social amelioration program of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act covering those who may have no means to buy food, medicines and toiletries while Luzon and other parts of the country were under a month-long lockdown to contain the COVID-19 disease from spreading.

Last Friday/April 3, P6.05 billion for 1.19 million household-beneficiaries in Metro Manila, Cordillera Autonomous Region (Car), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) were released by Landbank.

The dole outs were credited to Landbank cash cards.

On Saturday/April 4, 1.29 million beneficiaries in Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula will receive a total of P5.26 billion in cash grants.

By Sunday, the remaining P5.01-billion aid will be distributed to 1.23 million households in Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and Caraga.

“We want to ensure that social protection programs reach our most vulnerable sectors during this crisis the soonest time possible. Through our Landbank cash cards, we are delivering financial assistance in an immediate, safe, secure, and convenient manner,” Landbank president and chief executive Cecilia C. Borromeo said,

“The beneficiaries may withdraw from the 2,196 Landbank ATMs available nationwide, and the more than 20,000 ATMs of Bancnet member-banks free of charge. They may also use their Landbank cash cards to purchase goods from groceries and drugstores or withdraw money from Landbank’s partner cash-out agents,” Borromeo added.