DSWD says over P96.59-B cash aid given to 17 million SAP beneficiaries

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. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

The government has already distributed financial assistance amounting to over P96-billion so far to more than 17 million low-income families, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“Sa pangkalahatan, nakapagpahatid na ang DSWD ng mahigit P96.59-billion sa mahigit 17 million na beneficiaries ng SAP (social amelioration program) (Overall, the DSWD has distributed more than P96.59 billion to more than 17 million beneficiaries of the SAP),” DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao said during a virtual press briefing on Saturday, May 16.

Dumlao noted that of this amount, P78-billion were given by the local government units (LGUs) to more than 12.

8 million beneficiaries.

She said the DSWD will continue to coordinate and monitor the LGUs that are having ongoing SAP payouts.

“Batid ng DSWD na kinakailangan nating mapablis ang process upang maihatid natin ang kinakailangang ayuda sa ating mga kababayan (The DSWD knows that the process should be fast-tracked so that the needed aid will be delivered to our fellow countrymen),” Dumlao said.

Initially, the government said 18 million poor families will be given a monthly cash aid of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months, from April to May, under the SAP. But Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said the first wave of SAP will cover not only 18 million families, as five million more families have been approved to be SAP recipients.

In a statement on Friday, Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado “to determine how much funds from the 2020 National Budget will be realigned to augment the Administration’s social amelioration measures, pursuant to Republic Act No. 11469.” He added that the President will also ask help from Congress to look for additional funding for the second tranche of emergency subsidies.

Roque told DZMM in an interview that P257.7-billion will be needed if the Chief Executive wants to aid all the beneficiaries, but the government, he said, is “P51-billion short.”