The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in collaboration with the local government unit (LGU) of Bataraza today, April 11, started distributing P5,000 minimum subsidy to low-income families affected by the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine.
April Joy Peria, focal person from the Bataraza Public Information Office, said that the municipal government, through the help of DSWD, allocated a total of P30.7 million for the town’s 6,157 low income families.
The municipal government of Bataraza is the first LGU in Palawan to successfully endorse its list of target beneficiaries to the DSWD regional office for validation.
Peria said that they did not waste any time in preparing the necessary documents and lists of target beneficiaries since Duterte issued the order.
But Mayor Abraham Ibba, their local chief executive, anticipated that it will take a long time before the fund can be withdrawn and made immediate sourcing on where they can find an initial fund that they can use for distribution.
“Actually noong ibinaba itong kautusan, once noong na download na ýung pera, naghanap agad kami ng resources actually si Mayor, lalo na dito sa bangko natin sa Brooke’s Point, alam naman natin na iisa lang ýung bank na may kapasidad na pagkunan ng lahat ng kalapit na munisipyo ng ganoong kalaking halaga, so nag-anticipate si Mayor Ibba na maraming magwi-withdraw so ayun naghanap siya agad ng resources,” Peria said.
“Si Mayor talaga ang naghanap ng paraan kasi kumbaga kung aantayin naming ýung pagwi-withdraw sa bangko baka hindi kami agad makapag-bigay ng katulad ngayon na ginagawa namin. So si Mayor talaga, he took the initiative na maghanap muna ng resources, although andiyan na ýung pera,” she added.
The program is under the national government’s P200-billion Special Amelioration Program (SAP) derived from Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which mandates that each low-income household shall receive an emergency subsidy ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months.
The assistance will be distributed in April to May. DSWD will employ different modes of payment applicable to the situation that will ensure expeditious benefit distribution,” it said.
The DSWD said it has “full control and supervision” of the emergency subsidy distribution based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s order. The Department may request the assistance of LGUs in the release of the subsidies together with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), it said.
The DSWD assured the public that it will “conduct thorough monitoring based on existing strategies to ensure that the assistance will go to the rightful beneficiaries.”
The Department urges families to stay at home as help is already on the way to ensure that they can meet their daily food needs during this time of public health emergency,” it added.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said that the Social Amelioration Program will prioritize 18 million poor Filipino households.
Under the program, 4Ps beneficiaries, informal economy workers (directly hired or occasional workers), subcontracted workers, home workers, house helpers, public transportation drivers (pedicab, tricycle, PUVs, TNVS), micro-entrepreneurs and producers, family enterprise owners, sub-minimum wage owners, farmers, employees affected by the no-work, no-pay policy, stranded workers, other household members belonging to the vulnerable sectors (senior citizens, PWDs, pregnant and lactating women, solo parents, distressed OFWs, indigent IPs and homeless individuals).
Local beneficiaries need only to bring a certification or ID proving that they are a member of the vulnerable sector of the community in order to claim their P5,000 subsidy.
Peria said that the distribution will run until April 15, 2020.