NATIONAL Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Undersecretary and Deputy-General Penny Belmonte commended and thanked the city government of Manila for including the indigenous people in its free services and without requiring any proof that they are voters or residents.

Belmonte posted on Facebook that she and the entire NAPC family are witnesses that the system put in place by Mayor Isko Moreno which embraces even non-Manilans who got stranded in the city at the height of the pandemic actually works. The NAPC is headed by Secretary Atty. Noel Felongco as its Director-General.

“Sa pagtulong lalo’t sa panahon ng pandemya, hindi na dapat inaalam kung taga-saan at kung sino! Madami ang mga nagmula sa iba’t-ibang lugar na mga na-stranded sa Kamaynilaan lalo’t noong kasagsagan ng pagbulusok ng nakamamatay na COVID-19 at saksi po kami dito sa NAPC na palagiang tumatakbo kasama ang mga taong salat at hikahos, sa mga ospital sa Maynila pero walang naging isyu kung sila ay taga-saan at kung sino,” she said.

“Agaran silang inistima at binigyan ng kaukulang serbisyo ng mga kinatawan ng mga ospital at may kasama pang mga ayuda mula sa lokal na pamahalaan ng Maynila at ‘yan ang tama at nararapat lamang gawin ng mga kinatawan ng gobyernong tunay na walang bahid na pamumulitika bilang tao at bilang Pilipino!,”Belmonte added.

Belmonte made the comment in the wake of reports that some 1,000 residents from Tondo and Baseco who were relocated by the National Housing Authority to Naic, Cavite in 2019 way before Moreno became mayor, are being left behind in the assistance being given by the Naic government to its residents.

In a statement, Manila city administrator Felix Espiritu said Naic Mayor Jun Duanan called him up a number of times and asked that the relocatees be given assistance by Manila and that during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), some of the relocatees walked all the way from Cavite to Manila just to ask for assistance and they were given twice already, without any fanfare.

According to Belmonte, Moreno is not even aware that since the pandemic began, she had been bringing hundreds of stranded and indigenous individuals for free swab tests in the city-run hospitals, particularly at the Sta. Ana Hospital.

“Di na ako nagbigay ng burden kay Mayor Isko para makiusap dahil alam kong marami siyang ginagawa. Nagbigay siya ng order na kahit di taga-Maynila puwede. ‘Yun ang aking pinanghawakan kaya unfair na masabihan si Mayor ng mga paratang na walang katotohanan,” Belmonte said.

“Ayokong manahimik tapos may katotohanang puwede kong ma-share na tunay na nakatulong sa mahihirap ang lokal na pamahalaan ng Maynila sa pamumuno ng mayor,” she added.

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Itchie G. Cabayan