Marcos announces P2,000 cash aid for low-income Filipinos amid Middle East tensions

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday announced fresh aid packages for 7.5 million low-income households as commodity prices rise due to the continuing tensions in the Middle East. Some 3.5 million beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and Walang Gutom Program will each get a one-time assistance worth P2,000. The administration will also provide P2,000 monthly aid beginning this month until December to 2.5 million poor and near-poor households identified by the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System. About 1.5 million households of workers categorized as low-income by the Social Security System will also receive the monthly cash aid. The 7.5 million beneficiary-households comprise 37.5 million individuals. The government has released P12.375 billion to finance the UPLIFT program, which was formed to soften the impact of the Middle East conflict on vulnerable sectors. The UPLIFT strategy, which stands for Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport, was adopted last March 24 through Executive Order No. 110, placing the country under a state of national energy emergency. “We continue to feel the effect of the tension in the Middle East, which poses a threat to the global oil supply. It affects our economy and the prices of goods. If costs increase, the burden of every Filipino striving to provide for their needs becomes heavier,” Marcos said in a video statement. “The UPLIFT assistance aims to protect the capacity of Filipino families to provide for their daily needs. We also expanded the scope of the assistance so that more Filipinos will benefit from the program,” he added. Marcos gave assurance that the aid would be distributed in an orderly and timely way through digital platforms. On Wednesday, Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the administration is studying proposed fare hikes and subsidies to help sectors affected by the fallout from the war between the US and Iran. A Filipino seafarers advocacy group, meanwhile, is pushing for swift government help for some 2,500 Filipino seamen stranded in the Middle East due to the US-Iran war. “The Philippine government must act immediately to rescue our stranded seafarers. The government should not rely primarily on the assistance provided by shipowners. It must devise and implement an immediate plan to assist and evacuate seafarers stranded in the midst of the war,” the International Seafarers Action Center said. In a statement, ISAC said the Department of Migrant Workers and Department of Foreign Affairs must immediately embark on a rescue and evacuation mission. “The government’s earlier claim of having an agreement with the government of Iran to allow free passage of Filipino seafarers in the Hormuz Strait must be asserted and implemented immediately,” it said. The US embassy in Manila, it added, must be put to task to demand that the US military avoid move that could harm Filipino civilians in the war zones. ISAC said the Marcos administration must step up its efforts to create more jobs in the country and implement a living wage of P1,200 per day to stem the migration of Filipinos to other countries due to poverty and lack of stable jobs. “No Filipino migrant worker, sea based or land based, should ever be suffered to work overseas in war zones at the risk of losing life and limb,” the group added. — Rhodina Villanueva