On its 14th day since its comeback, the Sampung Libong Pag-asa program once again became a platform for a pandemic-stricken Filipino to urge the government to approve the 10K Ayuda Bill that aims to provide P10,000 in cash aid to every family.
“Sa mga Senator po at sa mga Kongresista, nais ko pong ihatid sa inyo ang aking mensahe,” Mary Jane Serrano, a solo parent and a fire victim from Navotas, said during the Sampung Libong Pag-asa episode on Thursday.
“Tulungan po natin si Senator Alan Cayetano na isabatas po ang 10K Ayuda Bill at maibigay na po ang 10K ayuda para sa mga taong nais pong bumangon,” she continued.
Serrano, a mother of two, is the latest recipient of P10,000 in cash aid from Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s private initiative dubbed “Sampung Libong Pag-asa.”
Having lost her husband last week, roughly two months after a fire incident destroyed their home, the solo parent said the cash aid she has received will be a “very big help.”
“Sobrang halaga po [ng P10,000] kasi hindi ito basta-basta napupulot. Malaking tulong po ‘to sa aming mahihirap,” Serrano, who was an office worker in Pasay before the pandemic, said.
Serrano also called on all Filipinos who are doubting Cayetano’s Sampung Libong Pag-asa program to support the initiative.
“Para rin po ito sa taong mahihirap na katulad natin na pilit ni Senador Alan Cayetano na ibinabangon muli,” she said.
Serrano said she will use the direct cash aid to sell banana cue and reopen the sari-sari store that her husband used to run during the pandemic.
“Sisimulan ko na po ang negosyo kong natigil ng aking asawa. Napakalaking tulong po ito sa aking dalawang anak na maliliit pa. D’un ko na lang po kukunin ang amin pong pang-araw-araw,” she said.
She thanked Cayetano for leading the call for the establishment of a cash aid program for poor Filipinos amid the pandemic.
“Sana po maapbrubahan na po para kahit papaano makatulong po ito sa mga pamilya na nais pong bumangon,” she said.
“Kung hindi dahil po sa inyo, wala po talaga akong pagkukuhanan, senator,” Serrano addressed Cayetano.
Cayetano had been stressing that P10,000 is not a “pantawid” (stop-gap measure) but ultimately a “pang-ahon” (a recovery measure).
“Masipag ang mga Pilipino, tinamaan lang talaga ng pandemya,” he said in a recent Facebook livestream where he handed out P10,000 in cash assistance to 10 individuals.
“Kung walang pandemic at hindi sobrang taas ng bilihin, talagang itutulak natin ang tao more sa trabaho. But marami kasing nawalan ng trabaho, lumiit ang kita, that’s why 10K would go a long way,” he added.###
