4Ps beneficiaries get cash assistance amid COVID-19 quarantine

Several families listed as beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) have started receiving cash assistance to cushion the impact of the quarantine period being enforced to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Other needy individuals, however, who went to the Quezon City office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to seek help, went home empty-handed.

According to a report on 24 Oras by Maki Pulido, 4Ps beneficiaries trooped to Land Bank’s automated teller machine (ATM) inside the DSWD compound to withdraw their cash subsidy.

Under the emergency subsidy program, beneficiaries will be given a monthly aid of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months, to be computed based on the minimum daily wage rates in their respective regions.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has so far released half of the P200 billion worth of emergency subsidies to some 18 million low-income households.

For Ana Cacho, a beneficiary, families have to stretch whatever amount they will get until the end of the quarantine period, or when they are allowed to report for work anew and receive salary.

“Kahit matapos na ang quarantine, kailangan pahabain pa rin kasi wala naman agad sweldo ang nagtatrabaho,” she said.

Dianne Malvar, an informal sector worker, is not a 4P beneficiary but is expecting the government would make true its word that it will take care of workers like her, too.

“Pinangakuan kami na wag kaying lalabas ng bahay, tutulungan kayo.  Nasaan ang tulong, puro na lang salita, walang gawa,” she said.

Meanwhile, both Liezl Dawal and Annaliza Ortiz, who went to the DSWD office to seek medicine and burial assistance, failed to get any from the department’s program called Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation.

An announcement posted at the DSWD gate said it has temporarily halted office work due to the enhanced community quarantine.

DSWD director Irene Dumlao clarified that for urgent concerns, the department may issue guarantee letter that may be brought to the house of the individual.  For walk-ins, Dumlao said they may go to the DSWD’s main office in Manila. —LDF, GMA News