BUREAUCRATIC requirements that excluded informal workers from receiving cash grants have deprived millions of poor Filipinos from getting emergency aid during the Covid-19 lockdowns in early 2020. As a result, many families that were already poor before the pandemic immediately became worse off after the imposition of restrictive quarantines and were unable to access government aid.

These, among others, were the findings indicated in a recently published report that scrutinized the proceeds of a $750-million Covid-19 loan from the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).

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