DSWD: P941 million in education aid released to 375K beneficiaries

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday said that it has released over P941 million worth of educational assistance to more than 375,000 student beneficiaries.

“Despite po nung rough start natin, masaya po tayong ibalita sa ating mga kababayan na 375,485 na mga kliyente 'yung ating mga naabot, at sa kabuuan ito po ay P941.46 million ang ating tala matapos ng September 12 payout,” DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said at the public briefing.

(Despite our rough start, we are happy to announce to our fellow Filipinos that we have provided 375,485 beneficiaries with a total of P941.46 million in educational assistance so far after the September 12 payout.)

Lopez said the department last Saturday also distributed P35 million worth of educational assistance to 13,842 students in geographically and isolated and disadvantaged areas.

He, however, said that not all students who applied online and received text confirmation will receive the cash assistance from the educational aid program.

“Subject po ito sa availability of funds, so it doesn't mean na kapag kayo ay nakapag online register at nakatanggap ng educational assistance ay kayo automatically makakatanggap ng ating educational assistance, kasi nga po ito ay dadaan sa proseso ng assessment,” Lopez said.

(This is subject to the availability of funds so it doesn't mean that when you register online and receive educational assistance you will automatically receive our educational assistance because it will go through the assessment process.)

“Paglilinaw din po ang ating budget para dito ay P1.5 billion. Nabanggit natin kanina almost P1 billion na po ang ating nagagamit at naipapamahagi sa ating mga kababayan so ito po ay limitado na,” he added.

(We also want to clarify that our budget for this is P1.5 billion. As we mentioned earlier, we have distributed almost P1 billion, so this is now limited.)

Under the program, up to three students per indigent family could receive P1,000 for elementary students, P2,000 for high school students, P3,000 for senior high school students, and P4,000 for college students or vocational courses.

The DSWD, however, closed the online application for the program due to the high volume of applications against limited available funds.

Lopez said the P1.5-billion budget could cover around 400,000 students all over the country.

He also apologized to students who may not receive educational assistance due to the limited funds, saying that there are other programs that will help them.

“Ngayon pa lang po ay humihingi na kami ng pangunawa at dispensa kung hindi man maabot lahat ng ating kababayan ng educational assistance kagaya ng nabanggit kanina dahil sa limitadong pondo,” he said.

(Right now we are asking for understanding and we apologize to the students who will not receive the educational assistance due to limited funds.)

“Pero ang asahan ng ating mga kababayan ay may mga programa pa naman po tayong in place para tulungan yung mga kababayang Pilipino na nangangailangan ng assistance sa ibang pamamaraan nandyan pa po yung medical assistance, cash assistance yung ating pangangailangan kababayan sa negosyo at sustainable livelihood program,” he added.

(We still have programs in place to help Filipinos who need assistance through other programs, there is still the medical assistance, cash assistance for business, and the sustainable livelihood program.) — BM, GMA News