4.2M ‘left out’ families priority in 2nd SAP distribution

FILE: Personnel from the Parañaque City government distribute cash aid as part of the Social Amelioration Program to around 859 beneficiaries at the Tambo Elementary School on Monday (May 4, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – Around 4.2 million families would be prioritized in the distribution of the second tranche of the government’s social amelioration program (SAP), an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday.

In a Laging Handa briefing, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said they have identified the heads of the families that are waitlisted and were left out from the first tranche of the emergency subsidy program.

“Through our coordination with the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), we have gathered the contact details and names of the heads of the households who were waitlisted and left out. Based on our latest data, we have around 4.2 million families,” he said in Filipino.

He added that they are expecting to finish the distribution of the second tranche of SAP by June 23.

“May pilot distribution payout na po ang DSWD sa Benguet sa Cordillera Administrative Region dun po magsisimula at sunod sunod na po hanggang sa June 23 (The DSWD will have a pilot distribution in Benguet in Cordillera Administrative Region, that’s the start and it will continue until June 23),” Malaya said.

Malaya said the cash aid will be distributed either through the manual or electronic method.

In manual payout, the DSWD would personally give the aid to the families who have no access to the internet to register for the automatic way of distribution, or with no bank account number and smartphones.

Meanwhile, beneficiaries can download an application and register to the program through the electronic method of aid distribution.

The second tranche of SAP will be given to the entitled beneficiaries in the following areas — National Capital Region, Central Luzon (except Aurora), Calabarzon, Benguet, Pangasinan, Iloilo Province, Cebu Province, Bacolod, Davao City, Albay Province, and Zamboanga City.

SAP, the national government’s PHP200-billion program, grants monthly emergency subsidy ranging from PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 to poor families affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for April and May.

Around PHP100 billion have already been released for the implementation of the first phase of SAP.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act also known as Republic Act 11469, some 18 million poor families were targeted in the first tranche of the cash aid.

For the second tranche of emergency subsidies, only 12 million of 18 million families who are living in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will get the assistance.