The Department of Social Welfare and Development –Field Office VI (DSWD-FO VI)  will release the shelter assistance, amounting to P8.2 million, for the municipality of San Dionisio in Iloilo by the first week of May, assured  DSWD- FO VI Regional Director Rebecca Geamala.

The Municipality of San Dionisio is one of those where the DSWD implements directly the payout of the shelter assistance in as much as the local government unit does not have exemption from the election ban.

The assistance will be released  in  partnership with a religious group in the town considering that it is election period.

Dir. Geamala  met with the representatives of the different barangays of the town who flocked at the DSWD compound early Monday asking for clarification as to when will their shelter assistance be released.

“Even before you came to our office, we have already scheduled the release of the assistance for your town,”  Dir. Geamala said.

The shelter assistance is intended for 828 families whose houses were partially damaged by Typhoon Yolanda which hit the Western Visayas Region in 2013.

Dir. Geamala explained that the delay in the release of the aid was due to the  need  to revalidate the list of beneficiaries after receiving complaints that families with totally damaged houses were classified under partially damaged and vice-versa.

Overall, DSWD-FO VI has released P8.2 billion in shelter assistance as of the first quarter of 2016. ###