IATF wants additional 5M families covered under gov't cash aid program

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has recommended to increase the number of beneficiaries of the government's Social Amelioration Program (SAP) to 23 million low-income families or five million more than the initial 18 million, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday.

“Mabuting balita, nagdesisyon ang IATF na irekomenda sa Presidente na magbibigay ng karagdagang ayuda sa social amelioration benefit para sa five million pa na pamilya, alinsunod sa pangako ng Presidente na mabigyan ang nangangailangan,” Roque said at a televised ress conference.

“Ang katunayan, marami pa ring magrereklamo na dapat sila mabigyan, pero five million na po [ang nadagdag] dahil narinig na ng Presidente ang inyong kahilingan,” Roque added.

Under SAP, P5,000 to P8,000 worth of monthly cash grant is given to each of the 23 million low-income family, depending on the minimum wage of each region.

Roque, however, said the program will only cover residents in areas under enhanced community quarantine, which includes the National Capital Region, Region 3, Region 4A, among others.

“Wala pa pong desisyon kung ito pong social amelioration ay magi-extend under general community quarantine areas,” Roque said.

As of last week, data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development showed that only 6% of LGUs were done distributing the cash aid to the beneficiaries.

The deadline for the distribution was on April 30, but the government extended it for seven more days. --KBK, GMA News