₱100K to be awarded to barangays in Manila City with no COVID-19 cases for 2 months

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 31) — Any barangay in the City of Manila which will register no new coronavirus cases from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 will receive a ₱100,000 incentive from the local government.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso announced this in a live video address on Monday, saying the city government will earmark ₱89.6 million for the incentive-based approach to contain the viral transmission.

“Ang goal natin ay zero COVID-19 infection for two months sa barangay, and I believe that you can do it," he told the city's 896 barangays.

“Mag-aappropriate po tayo ng ₱89.6 million kasi ang goal natin, hopefully, kanya-kanya tayong magsisigasig para labanan ang COVID-19 pandemic,” Moreno added.

[Translation: Our goal is to have zero COVID-19 infection for two months in our barangay, and I believe that you can do it. We are going to appropriate ₱89.6 million, because our goal, hopefully, is that we will each strive to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.]

Moreno said all COVID-19 data in the barangay level will be verified by the Manila Health Department (MHD). Besides the cash incentive, certificates will also be given to recognize the efforts of the barangay officials.

According to MHD data, the city so far has logged 8,110 cases of the viral illness, of which 6,911 have recovered and 325 have died. These bring the city’s tally of active cases or currently ill patients to 874 as of Aug. 31.