Govt gives out 34,000 family access cards in Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The Manila Department of Social Welfare on Thursday began distributing 34,000 family access cards to families identified as "poorest of the poor" in the city, allowing them better access at cheaper basic commodities. Reporter Ivan Mayrina said on QTV's Balitanghali news program that the city’s Social Welfare department has already started handing out thousands of family access cards to poor residents of Manila’s second district – a third of the total access cards planned to be handed out to some 98,000 poor residents in the city. Throughout the months of June and July, the remaining cards, which have yet to be placed with bar codes, are expected to be distributed to the 64,000 remaining poor families. These access cards entitle families from slum areas to avail government-subsidized medicines and food products like rice and oil through government agencies such as the National Food Authority outlets. The report quoted the Social Welfare department in Manila as saying that it has classified some 98,000 families as being severely poor – the biggest number in Metro Manila. The “identified poor families" mostly came from depressed communities in the compounds of Parola, Baseco and Smokey Mountain in Manila’s Tondo district. According to government standards, a family is eligible for an access card if their monthly income does not exceed P5,000. To avoid triggering untoward incidents and ensure an orderly claiming of the “green cards," the Social Welfare department has entrusted the distribution to a designated representative from each of the six districts in Manila. Nevertheless, the local government agency has also installed complaint desks in all six districts, in anticipation of the confusion that would spring from families competing for access cards. The report said that other families who would not be able to carry access cards should not be discouraged as NFA rolling stores continue to sell cheap rice and subsidized cooking oil in the area. The said coconut oil can also be bought at select Bigasan ni Gloria outlets at P4.75 per 50 ml. The subsidized oil is cheaper than regular cooking oil by P1.25, a separate report from GMA’s Unang Balita earlier said. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV