ADVERTISEMENT
DILG: 5M families left out in social amelioration to receive cash aid in 2nd tranche
An additional five million families, who are qualified recipients of the Social Amelioration Program but did not receive cash aid during the first wave of distribution, will receive their state subsidies in the second tranche, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Saturday.
“Meron ng programa ang gobyerno para sa mga left out families. Magme-meeting kami para gawin ‘yung guidelines ng left out families na according to DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) ay 4.9 million,” Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.
“Isasama natin sila sa second tranche,” he said.
The DILG official reiterated that the financial assistance cannot be divided by local government and barangay officials to several families in order to spread out the cash aid for those who were left out.
“‘Pag hinati-hati po ‘yan, that is graft and corruption. Meron pong nalabag na batas dito, ‘yung Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, dahil nga po bawal ‘yung ganung klaseng estilo,” Malaya said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has recommended to increase the number of beneficiaries
ADVERTISEMENT
Under the program, P5,000 to P8,000 worth of monthly cash grant is given to each of the 23 million low-income families, depending on the minimum wage of each region.
The payout rate of the cash assistance for poor and vulnerable families affected by the COVID-19 crisis has reached 85.49% in the entire country.
The deadline for the distribution is on May 10. It was originally set on April 30 but was extended for 10 more days due to difficulties experienced by several local governments with larger populations.
The DSWD earlier said that only the LGUs that were able to fully distribute the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program can receive the budget for the second tranche.
So far the top three regions with the highest payout rates are Caraga at 100%, Bicol at 99.79%, and CAR at 93.92%. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News