CHAPTER I

The Problem and Its Background

This chapter includes the background of the study, statement of the problem, and

the definition of terms.

Introduction

Nowadays, the world faces a much bigger problem due to COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 restrictions have crippled the economy and thrown many out of work.

According to pollster Social Weather Stations, the number of people going hungry has

reached a record high during the pandemic. One of the most popular words during this

pandemic has got to be ayuda. It is actually a Spanish word, which means

“assistance,”although generally Filipinos are more likely to use tulong, or among

Ilonggos bulig, both of which mean “help”.

Ayuda has been used to denote local government assistance during the

community quarantines, in the form of grocery bags of milled rice, canned goods

(usually tuna and meat loaf) and instant noodles. The term has become so common

nowadays, people even use it to affectionately describe gifts of food among friends and

family. The term ayuda has a special meaning in Filipino now – it is the cash entitlement

from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program

(SAP) for designated beneficiaries, though cash given by any government agency is

also known as ayuda. It is different from tulong, which also translates as “help”, but
implies charity,rather than entitlement. YouTube has several Filipino songs about ayuda

that voice complaints about being too slow and/or too little compared to what had been

promised by the government, and suspicions about unwarranted deductions made by

government officials.

The government should identify the least advantaged during a pandemic.Those

most affected by the financial discrepancies brought about by lockdowns should be the

ones to be prioritized in the distribution of ayuda (Capulong et.al,2021).These are

people who lost their jobs because of company closures,contractual workers,micro-

entrepreneurs, private school workers whose workplace closed,the agricultural sector,

flight attendants,Overseas Filipino Workers,factory workers,jeepney and tricycle

drivers,and real estate renting owners.These are the people who are denied the basic

primary goods;hence they are the least advantaged during the pandemic.

Ayuda should be given to those who are not fully experiencing the basic primary

goods ( Capulong et.al,2021). This is necessary because the basic primary goods are

the basis for promoting fairness. According to Mercado (2020), a measure that aim to

give cash assistance to families affected by the coronavirus pandemic has been filed in

the House of Representatives. House Bill No. 8597 proposes the creation of the Bangon

Pamilyang Pilipino (BPP) Assistance Program wherein each Filipino family shall receive

one-time cash assistance of P 10,000 or P 1,500 per family member, whichever is

higher. Given the national 23 million families, those numbers imply that about 16 million
families received ayuda, i.e.,2 million less than the proclaimed target of 18 million. To

achieve the 18 million, the national proportion of recipients should be 78 percent of

families.Yet, 16 out of 18 is a very respectable 89 percent (Mangahas, 2020).

According to Abad (2021), when lockdowns were floated again as record-high

COVID-19 surges were reported in March 2021, aid, or ayuda was likely top of mind for

many Filipinos whose livelihoods were once again expected to be affected. As of now,

the government said it would give P 1,000 to 22.9 million poor Filipino individuals, with a

maximum of P 4,000 per family. However, multiple reports surfaced that the

government’s list did not jibe with the actual number of families in need. In the

Philippines, some citizens complained about the unjust distribution of ayuda (financial

assistance). People accused government officials of corrupting the supposed aid to the

citizens. For this reason, the question that government officials must ask themselves in

a time of scarcity is how resources can be allocated fairly (Gozum et.al,2021).

Volunteering your time, money, or energy to help others doesn’t just make the

world better – it also makes you better. Studies indicate that the very act of giving back

to the community boosts your happiness, health, and sense of well-being. This study

was conducted to know the sustainability level of Barangay Ilijan ayuda among Ilijano’s

and how the barangay maintained the distribution of ayuda in times of lockdown.In this

research the researchers were able to determine whether the impact of COVID – 19

pandemic will be reduced by providing assistance.

Statement of the Problem
This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age

1.2 Socioeconomic status

1.3 Number of Households

2. What are the benefits of ayuda and how do these things help to lessen the

impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the lives of Ilijanos?

3. What are the impacts of ayuda to its sustainability level among Ilijanos during

the covid-19 pandemic?

Objectives of the Study

The generalization of this present study would be a great contribution to the vast

knowledge and solution in relation with the possible impact or the advantages of

distribution of Ilijan Ayuda among Ilijanos and its sustainability level during pandemic.

Vital results of this study could be highly significant and beneficial especially to the

following:

1. Through this research, the community will able to know by assessing how important it

is to have distribution of ayuda in terms of sufficing the needs of the citizens.

2. This research may serve as a guide to the future researchers in improving their future

studies through identifying the strengths and possible weaknesses of this research.
3. This study helps the researchers to know the advantages of having an ayuda

distribution and the sustainability level during pandemic.

4. Through this research, the residents will able to know how passionate the barangay

is to administer an ayuda distribution for the Ilijanos.

Definition of Terms

The following technologies used in the study are represented with conceptual

and operational definition for the better understanding of the reader.

Assistance – the action of helping someone by sharing work or by the provision of

money, resources, or information to help someone

Discrepancies – an illogical or surprising lack of compatibility or similarity between two

or more facts

Restriction – is an official rule that limits what you can do or that limits the amount or

size of something

Pollster – is a person or organization who asks large numbers of people questions to

find out their opinions on particular subjects

Charity – an organization whose purpose is to give money, food, or to help those who

need it, or to carry out activities such as medical research that will help people in need,

and not to make a profit

Crippled – to make something much less effective

Proclamation – to announce something publicly or officially, especially something

positive

Cognizance – conscious knowledge or recognition; awareness

Lockdown – an emergency situation in which people are not allowed to freely enter,

leave, or move around in a building or area because of danger

Crisis – a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger

Propensity – an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way

Demographic – relating to the structure of populations

Conceptual Framework
Input Process Output

Demographic
profile of the
respondents in
terms of age,
socio-economic Impacts of Ilijan’s
status,no. of ayuda among
children and Interview Ilijanos
employment/nat Survey Sustainability level
ure of work. Questionnaire of Ilijan’s ayuda
Benefits of during pandemic
ayuda that can
help to lessen
the impacts of
pandemic in the
lives of Ilijanos.
Factors that
affect the
Figure 1
Impact of Ilijan Ayuda Among Ilijanos and Its Sustainability Level During Pandemic
Paradigm of the Study

The model illustrates the relationship between the three major parts of the

research paradigm namely the input, process, and output. The input is about the

demographic profile of the respondents in terms of age, socioeconomic status, number

of children, and employment/nature of work, benefits of ayuda that can help to lessen

the impacts of pandemic in the lives of Ilijanos and factors affect the sustainability level

of ayuda. This input will be needed as variables to come up with the output. The

process involves the use of interview and survey questionnaire to come up with the

results. The output or the outcome of the study are impacts of Ilijan’s ayuda among

Ilijanos and its sustainability level during pandemic.

 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This study was designed to know the impact of Ilijan ayuda among Ilijano’s and

its sustainability level during pandemic. To facilitate the more comprehensive details of

this research, review of related literature and studies include the following:

The Philippines faced one of its toughest challenges yet; the Coronavirus

Disease 2019 (COVID-19). As far as research on sustainable development is

concerned, the lockdown has significantly disrupted the usual communication channels

and, among other things has led to the cancellation of meetings and long-planned

events (Azul et al., 2021). Community quarantine measures have caused serious

disruption to people’s access to food and other essential needs, while breaks in the food

systems including supply chains, markets and logistics have led to challenges in

maintaining food availability and security. It led to some people losing jobs amidst the

difficult situation that the pandemic caused (Gregorio,2020).

To ensure vulnerable segments of the population are not a risk of food and

nutritional deficits, support will be provided through food relief and/or cash grants,

recovery of livelihoods and preservation of agricultural production (Venzon,2020). Most

families, especially those who have lost their sources of income, relied on government

aid called ayuda for their daily sustenance (Macapagat,2020). According to Capulong

(2021), the government should identify the least advantaged during a pandemic. Those

most affected by the financial discrepancies brought about by lockdowns should be the

ones to be prioritized in the distribution of ayuda.

 Humanitarian partners providing cash interventions will ensure trhat cash transfer

programmes are designed in cognizance with government protocols for the ECQ and

other COVID-19 measures,including avoidance of mass gathering,physical distancing

and disease prevention (Heywood,2020).

Mali suffered from a series of political,constitutional and military crises since

January 2018,including the loss of government control of northern territories.A range of

humanitarian aid interventions were scaled up in response to these complex crises

.Estimate program impact by combining propensity score matching and difference-in-

difference(Pierre et.al,2018).Charitable food assistance in affluent societies shows a

polarization between growing abundance,on the one hand,and social exclusion,on the

other.It establishes a connection between both sides . In Germany, such charity is

especially represented by the so-called Tafael non-profit organization. The purpose of

this article will be to explore the structural problems of the non-profit organizations’

charitable practices (Lorenz,2020).

This review focuses on the health and nutrition impacts of food assistance

programs.The review concludes by discussing the existing literature in five broad

areas:take-up and use of the programs;impacts on other contemporaneous outcomes

such as income and labor supply and etc. (Bitler,2019).

According to Lusk (2019), the impact of providing food assistance vs. cash has

long been a subject of a debate.Prior efforts to casually identify the effects of the two

types of transfers have been hindered by concerns over non-random selection into
assistance programs,misreporting of program benefits,and identification of inframarginal

households who,theoretically, should treat cash and in-kind transfers identically.

According to Jonsson (2019), the purpose of this study is to assess the effects on food

security in Georgia following a join direct cash transfer project initiated as an emergency

response to the conflict with Russia.

Future cash assistance will benefit from greater knowledge and experience of

partners,further improvements were acknowledged to require increased technological

capacity,human capital,training and monitoring in order to achieve adequate information

collection and dissemination(Bonie,2020).

According to Walter (2021), the crisis caused by COVID-19 has affected

research in a variety of ways.As far as research on sustainable development is

concerned,the lockdown has significantly disrupted the usual communication channels

and ,among other things,has led to the cancellation of meetings and long-planned

events.

According to Filho (2021), there is a gap in the literature in regards to how a

global crisis influences sustainability research.Taking care of the physical and mental

well-being of the citizens is by providing them with the basic primary goods of

society.Thus,this setting calls for a program that prioritizes the citizens most affected by

the pandemic (Gopez,2019).

 The most recent global food crisis has forced development agencies in the global

North to rethink the nexus between agricultural development,food aid,and food

security,and how development assistance strategies can enhance food security to more

effectively respond to or prevent such crises in the future(Jamey,2020).According to

Bryant (2020), analyzing the strategic response of major state and multilateral

development agencies to the global food crisis,the paper examines the diverse and

slippery meanings and uses of sustainability.The suggested guidance may also be

relevant to broader dissemination initiatives to foster the diffusion of evidence –based

health programs within and across communities for practice,but we have not focused on

research to tackle those larger issues of broader and sustained systemic change

(Dearing,2021).

Since the pandemic provided many inequalities within different countries,as part

of taking care of the well-being of their citizens, governments must respond to those

who are financially incapable. It shows to bias to any member of society (Lopez,2020).

Literature reviews and studies used in this study serve as guide in making the

framework and findings of the study.