The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will lead the distribution of the emergency cash subsidy under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to the additional five million families who will be included as beneficiaries of the program for the first tranche, as well as for the second tranche of the aid.
It can be recalled that the Department launched an Appeal System, where local government units (LGUs) submitted a list of “left-outs” or those qualified families who were not included in the initial list of target beneficiaries for the first tranche of SAP in their localities. This will be the basis of DSWD for the list of additional beneficiaries.
The Department will wait for the written directive or Executive Order from the Office of the President which will serve as basis in crafting the implementing guidelines for the second tranche.
In distributing the subsidy, DSWD, as directed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, will tap the assistance of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of National Defense (DND).
The Department will also take into consideration its assessment of the implementation of the first tranche of the cash subsidy. To achieve a more efficient, organized, and speedy SAP distribution, DSWD is currently studying how it can use accessible technologies to gather data from beneficiaries. It is also looking at how digital or online wallets can be used for contactless payment assistance.
The Department encourages LGUs that have not yet completed the distribution of SAP to finish the provision of the aid to their qualified constituents the soonest possible time and to continue to follow the protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on social distancing and wearing of masks. It also reminds LGUs to submit their liquidation reports and encoded list of beneficiaries so DSWD can start the validation as well as the processing of the funds for the second tranche of SAP implementation for LGUs under MECQ up to May 31. ###
