Unpaid SAP beneficiaries told to check info with DSWD offices

FILE: DSWD Eastern Visayas Patuloy sa Pamimigay ng Waitlisted Emergency Subsidy (Photo: DSWD Eastern Visayas/Facebook)

MANILA – Beneficiaries of the government’s social amelioration program (SAP) who have yet to receive financial aid are urged to coordinate with their concerned regional office, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Friday.

“Kailangan lang talagang makapunta sa [DSWD] regional office kasi sila po yung gumagawa ng payroll. Pag may mali ang data, maiwawasto nila doon at maayos ito agad kasi hawak nga nila ang payroll. Hinihikayat po namin ang mga hindi pa nakakatanggap ng kanilang ayuda na makipag-ugnayan po tayo upang makuha na (Those who are still to get their SAP aid needs to check on the regional office. Possibly, there is something wrong with the information and if they go there, the problem can be fixed right away. The regional office is the one in charge of the payroll. We urge those beneficiaries who are still waiting to go to their respective regional offices),” DSWD agency operations center director Ferdinand Budeng said in a virtual presser.

During the presser where the agency mostly received complaints regarding pending SAP aid, DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao shared that one of the beneficiaries who sent a grievance report has failed to put the contact number in her social amelioration card (SAC) form.

“The financial service providers need the contact number to validate their account before the money will be sent,” she said.

Some of the grievance reports also called out barangay officials over the improper encoding of information on SAC forms of beneficiaries.

In an interview, Administrative Officer Engr. Luis Hefti from Barangay Sangandaan in District 6, Quezon City, said the barangay officials took the heat of the SAP implementation.

“They were overworked, to say the least. They are hard workers but they have limits too,” he said.

He also suggested that a social welfare desk be designated in each barangay office to handle the concerns regarding social welfare programs of DSWD.

Dumlao said this can be materialized following a request from the barangay office to their respective regional office.

“Pwedeng magpadala ng representative [kagawad] sa local social welfare and development office (LSWDO) ang barangay at makakakuha siya ng training (They can send a representative [councilor] to receive training from the LSWDO),” she answered.

Last week, the DSWD has already announced they have completed the SAP 2 aid for 14.2 million family beneficiaries, exceeding their previously announced target of 14.1 million families.

Dumlao explained that the money has already been transferred to the financial service providers (FSPs).

The six FSPs that were recommended by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are the ones who are requesting the complete and correct personal information of the beneficiaries before they release the money.