Amid the increasing prices of commodities in the country, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government is set to release a P1,000 cash assistance for the poor families in a ''few days or in a few weeks''.

"This is the P500 for two months, so that means P1,000 for 9.3 million households, we will distribute this. We have already identified where we will source the money and maybe in a few days or in a few weeks, we will be able to distribute this to those who were affected by the inflation," Diokno said in a Palace press briefing on Tuesday morning.

Diokno said funds that will be used for the cash transfer program of the government will come from the tax collection.

"I think it will be released in a few weeks. I cannot give a specific date because it's up to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). But we already have identified the funding source and who are the recipients. They are the old recipients, we will not come up with the new list," he said.

Diokno said the government will also expand the Kadiwa program and will continue the provision of fuel discounts and the subsidies for vulnerable sectors like farmers and fisherfolk.

"There is a total of P26.6 billion subsidies for the vulnerable sectors. So, it is the fertilizer discount, voucher, iyong fuel discount on farmers and fisherfolks, fuel subsidy to the transport sector affected by the rising fuel cost. So these are the jeepney drivers, tricycle drivers and so forth and so on, they will get subsidies," he said.

However, Diokno said based on the Constitution the fuel voucher can only be distributed by the government once the price of Dubai crude oil in the world market reaches $80 per barrel for three consecutive months.

During the meeting with the president, Diokno said they also identified bills that the government need to pass.

These bills include the new agrarian emancipation act, the national land use act, the livestock development and competitiveness bill and the amendments to the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation. Robina Asido/DMS