MANILA, Philippines — Cainta Mayor Kit Nieto acknowledged that the municipal government lacks funds to cover the needs of more than 250,000 people in the town unserved by a subsidy from the national government.
While Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto said that his city government will cover those not included in the Department of Social Welfare and Development's subsidy program, Nieto said Cainta does not have as much money as neighboring Pasig.
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Nieto's idea: Auction off his personal sneaker collection to raise funds.
"I thought I can auction some of my stuff then proceeds will be given to those who are not covered [by the Social Amelioration Program]. This can help even a little," the mayor said.
"Every day, until the quarantine ends, I will auction three pairs [of shoes], until the virus is eradicated or my collection is sold out," he added.
On the first day of his auction, the Cainta mayor raised P132,000 and received a pledge for some livestock too.
On Tuesday, Nieto sold off three of his shoes:
- Air Force 1 with customized Spiderman design, a Christmas gift from Ateneo player Matt Nieto: Fetched P26,000 with 20 pieces of live broiler chicken thrown in
- Jordan 11 breds: Fetched P35,000
- Jordan 1 Travis Scott low, a birthday gift: Fetched P71,000
An online reseller who learned of Nieto’s initiative also went to the mayor’s office to hand over eight new pairs of shoes for the auction.
Nieto explained that the seller did not have any cash to give, but told him proceeds of the shoes he is selling can help fund the town’s relief efforts.
As of Monday morning, there are 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cainta, Rizal. Another 193 meanwhile are considered patients under investigation, or possible COVID-19 cases.
The Philippines logged 291 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the national tally to 5,233. Of these, 335 died while 295 have so far recovered.