Second tranche of cash aid only reached 17% of beneficiaries so far -DSWD

Two months after the government's target to distribute the second tranche of the social amelioration program (SAP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it has released assistance to only 17% of the beneficiaries.

In a virtual briefing on Wednesday, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said only 2.1 million beneficiaries have received assistance under the SAP, equivalent to 17.39% of the 12 million household beneficiaries.

"Ito kasi, ang naging isang challenge ngayon after the liquidation reports and the list of beneficiaries na ipinasa sa ating field offices ay kailangan mag-undergo pa sila ng sinasabi natin deduplication," he explained.

The Social Amelioration Program provides households at least P5,000 up to P8,000 cash assistance monthly for two months, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage.

To recall, the second tranche of the SAP was initially scheduled to be released to beneficiaries by May, when stricter lockdowns were still in place.

According to Bautista, the delay is due to validation efforts to ensure that beneficiaries do not accept double payments from SAP programs of other departments.

"Alam naman natin na hindi lang ang DSWD ang nag-provide ng SAP, but also meron ding mga DA (Department of Agriculture), meron din 'yung DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), meron ding DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) na nagbigay ng kanilang mga SAP," he said.

"Marami tayong mga insidente or cases na sinasabi nating nakatanggap ng double payment at doon tayo nagiging maingat dahil apparently, mas marami sanang makakatanggap ng ayuda kung 'yung mga nadoble ay sabihin nating hindi nangyari," added Bautista.

Aside from this, he said that there have also been delays in the reports from the local government units (LGUs), which are the basis for the list of beneficiaries.

The assistance is now also being released to beneficiaries through partner financial service providers, but Bautista said there have been limitations due to know-your-customer rules.

"Mayroong mga client na walang cellphone number so they have to coordinate with the local government units and coordinate with the regional (DSWD offices)," he explained.

Moving forward, Bautista said the agency targets to reach 80% by the end of the month, with releases expected Wednesday and Thursday, July 15 and 16.

"We will attain 80% of accomplishment by July 31 but that is just a conservative estimate. We are still hoping that by the end of July there will be more than 80%," he said.

For its part, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has released a total of P200.98 billion for the DSWD's SAP.—AOL, GMA News