By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
The grass is of no use if the horse is dead.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) cash assistance came too late for the departed Michelle Silvertino. Instead, the “huge” P15,400 cash aid was given to her four young children.
The 33-year-old single mother died after living at the EDSA footbridge in Pasay City for five days while waiting for a bus ride to her home province, Camarines Sur, to be with her children.
On June 5, Silvertino was found unconscious and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Her death certificate showed that she was a probable (severe) new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) case.
Apart from the belated cash aid, the DSWD also gave Silvertino’s family food supply to last for 10 days. The family would also be given access to the agency’s livelihood programs and education assistance for the children aged four to 11.
The Pasay City local government, in a press statement, also promised to extend assistance to Silvertino’s family in Calabanga, Camarines Sur.
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Ironically, it was both sad and comical to see the national and local governments seemingly compete with each other in sending aid to the bereaved family.
In just a matter of hours of Silvertino’s appalling tale went viral on social media, the national government came up with guidelines so that passengers could be sent home after days to months of being stranded because of the community quarantine.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque promised that the Silvertino incident would never happen again.
“Nagsimula na po ang DSWD-NCR na tulungan ang mga stranded noong isang linggo pa. May mga estudyante rin po na tinutulungan nating makauwi,” Roque said. (The DSWD-NCR started helping stranded commuters last week. There are also students being assisted in getting home.)
“Now, dahil nga po dito sa nangyari kay Michelle, mayroon na po tayong bagong polisiya na tutulungan ng gobyerno ang lahat ng stranded. (Because of what happened to Michelle, we now have a new policy that government will help all those who are stranded.)
Too late the hero. It had to take the death of Silvertino for the government to move. This is a classic example of a reactionary public administration.
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