LGUs have duty to provide food to constituents —Cainta mayor

Local government units have a duty to provide their constituents with food while work is suspended under the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, Cainta Mayor Kit Nieto said Thursday.

The local government of Cainta has begun handing out food packs door-to-door to residents to aid families whose incomes will be temporarily affected by the quarantine, according to a 24 Oras report by Dano Tingcungco.

“You deprive them of something that they should actually legally earn just to fend for their families. So government, now, is just under obligation to at least subsidize or compensate whatever pecuniary damage they sustain,” Nieto explained.

Earlier in the day, several tricycle drivers lined up at the Cainta Municipal Hall to claim food packs containing one kilo of rice and canned goods.

Tricycle drivers like Joseph De Luna said they rely on government aid on days when they cannot ply the roads to earn income.

“Tipid tipid lang po muna kasi bawal din naman kung bibiyahe ka, mahuhuli ka lang din… Makakaraos naman sa isang araw, [pero] bukas hindi ko po alam paano,” he said.

Nieto said that the food packs are also aimed at convincing everyone, even breadwinners, to stay at home to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease.

“As much as possible, I try to expedite ‘yung pagbibigay ng whatever they need just so we can already let them go back to their homes,” he said.

Aside from food packs, the local government is also providing free alcohol refills to residents.

Six cases of COVID-19 have already been confirmed in Cainta, while two have already died: the husband and wife who were the Philippines’ first two cases of local coronavirus transmission.

A total of 217 people have already been infected while 17 have died of COVID-19 in the entire country.

Luzon is under quarantine until April 13 to contain the spread of the disease. —Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF, GMA News