Biñan City’s fast and efficient house-to-house aid distribution for every resident

Unlike the rest of the localities in the NCR+ bubble, curfew hours in Biñan City, starts at four in the afternoon.

The reason is more than just controlling the spread of Covid-19. It is ensuring that the ‘ayuda’ to help the citizens get through the pandemic is received as convenient, safe and fast as possible.

City Mayor Arman Dimaguila Jr. proudly shares this strategy in the distribution of the ECQ ayuda as part of the government’s efforts to aid affected families where the city government was able to reach all the families, regardless of financial capacity, in just a matter of 11 days.

‘Ayuda’ for everyone

The province of Laguna, where Biñan City is part of, had been placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last March 29 to April 4 together with the whole National Capital Region and the provinces of Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan in response to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

To help the residents in these communities, the national government allotted PhP1,000 financial assistance per individual (maximum of 4 individuals per family) through the local government units.

The city received PhP305 million from the national government, which is intended for 305,000 individuals.

“Hindi pa naibababa ‘yung pera mula sa DBM, nagtuos kami. Kulang para sa lahat ng mga residente. We came up with a shortage of PhP 70 million pesos,” shared Mayor Dimaguila.

Since the local government intended to reach all residents, they needed to come up with a solution.

“Dahil lahat naman ay apektado, lahat ay gusto naming bigyan. Kahit ‘yung hindi botante dito, basta dito inabot ng ECQ. Kaya kinailangan naming mag-abandon ng ilang projects para magkaroon ng pondo,” he added.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod decided to abandon infrastructure projects such as repair of canals and roads slated this year.

“‘Yung mga proyektong ‘yun, p’wede namang next year. Hindi man namin napagawa ang mga ito ngayong taon, lahat naman ay nabigyan ng ayuda kaya buong Biñan ay masaya,” Mayor Dimaguila shared.

At the end of their 11-day distribution, the local government has reached a total of 375,591 individuals.

Cash versus ‘in-kind’ aid

The choice to give cash assistance rather than in-kind aid to their citizens was not just for convenience on the part of the local government.

“Kung bibigyan namin sila ng de-lata o bigas, baka hindi na nila kailangan. Baka mas kailangan pala nila ng pambayad ng kuryente,” he shared.

Mayor Dimaguila added that giving the residents cash will enable them to allot the aid to what they really need at the moment.

Josephine Enciso, a resident of Brgy. San Antonio, agrees with this.

“Mas gusto po namin na cash ‘yung ibinigay sa amin dahil po nailalaan po talaga namin sa kung ano ang pangangailangan namin. Nabibili po namin kung ano ang talagang dapat naming bilhin sa aming pamilya,” Enciso shared.

City Social Welfare and Development Officer (CSWDO) Olay Casbadillo added that in-kind aid will entail a lot of other costs such as transport and repacking, which will be deducted from the funds that should have been distributed to the people. Hence, giving the assistance in cash means that the people get the full value of the intended amount of assistance for them.

Mayor Dimaguila also shared that this also helped boost the local economy in the city.

“Kung bibili kami ng goods katulad ng bigas, bibilhin pa namin ‘yun sa ibang lugar. Pero ‘pag cash ang ibinigay sa tao, dito nila gagastusin ‘yun. ‘Yung PhP375 million, dito lang ‘yun halos umikot sa Biñan,” he shared.

He also added that the local government trusts that the residents will use the cash assistance to secure their needs, especially that they have local ordinances against gambling and liquor consumption.

Fast and efficient distribution scheme

“Napakaayos at napakabilis po ng ginawang proseso ng pamimigay ng ayuda. Hindi na po namin kailangang umalis sa aming bahay para pumila,” shared Jeanny Irinco, another resident of Brgy. San Antonio.

The local government employed a house-to-house distribution scheme to ensure the safety of the residents as well as the security and health of its employees and volunteers.

“Hindi namin ito ginawa ng umaga. Nagsimula kami ng 4:00 PM hanggang madaling araw para lahat ng mga tao nasa bahay nila,” said Mayor Dimaguila.

CSWDO Casbadillo added that since these are curfew hours, the police escorts can easily secure the barangays during the nightly distribution of assistance.

What made the distribution fast and efficient, however, was their careful planning based on their resources and experiences from distributions of past emergency subsidy programs.

“We studied our numbers, we conducted a time and motion study , kung ilang minuto ba ang kakailanganin para mabigyan ang isang pamilya sa literal na house to house distribution,” shared Mayor Dimaguila.

With this, they were able to prepare the required number of employees and volunteers, which they call ‘Team Ayuda.’

All throughout the distribution, the city government mobilized more than 1,000 employees and volunteers. Prior to deployment, all of these staff were trained on what to do and how to do the distribution efficiently.

“Naging maayos po ang pamamahagi ng ayuda sa amin. Masasabi po naming talagang napaghandaan ang ginawang proseso,” shared May Lajada, a resident of Brgy. Poblacion.

They also utilized their local radio station to communicate all the updates about the distribution. The radio program was also their means to immediately answer grievances from the residents.

Proud Biñanenses

Mayor Dimaguila cannot help but be proud of his team and even prouder of the residents of the city.

“In fairness sa mga taga Biñan, ‘yung mga may kaya sa buhay, sinasabi sa amin na ibigay na lang sa mga karapat-dapat,” shared Mayor Dimaguila.

In the Mayor’s official Facebook page, the residents are all praises to how the local government distributed the assistance. Even non-residents share the same thoughts.
“Mahirap ang naging proseso pero it is worth it ‘pag nakita mo ang ngiti ng mga tao, the way they appreciate the national and the local government. Nararamdaman ng mga tao ang malasakit at pagmamahal ng gobyerno kung napapaabot sa kanila ‘yung tamang tulong,” said Mayor Dimaguila, who proudly shares that the residents’ hashtag in social media in the past month has been #ProudBiñanense.***