Expanded UPLIFT cash aid distribution begins Monday

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Saturday said that distribution of the cash aid from the expanded United Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) program will begin on Monday.

"Monday, mag-uumpisa na po tayong mamamahagi nitong uplift assistance sa ating mga kababayan. 7.5 million households po ito na kung saan nga po 3.5 million ay magagaling sa database ng Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program at Walang Gutong Program," said DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(On Monday, we will begin distributing this uplift assistance to our fellow citizens. This covers 7.5 million households, with 3.5 million of them drawn from the databases of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Walang Gutom Program.)

"2.5 million households naman manggagaling sa 2024 community-based monitoring system. Sila po yung mga mahihirap na pamilya na nasa listahan ng Philippine Statistics Authority. At ang pangatlong grupo ay yung 5 million na manggagawa na meron po na, again, employed, mababa po sa 20,000 monthly salary credit," she added.

(Another 2.5 million households will come from the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System; these are the impoverished families included in the Philippine Statistics Authority's list. The third group consists of 5 million workers who are currently employed but have a monthly salary credit of less than 20,000.)

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday announced that it has expanded the UPLIFT amid the rising fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict. The DSWD, meanwhile, said said the expanded UPLIFT program it will also cover tax-paying near-poor earners and not just the poorest.

Beneficiary categories:

Group 1 beneficiaries refer to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Walang Gutom Program members who will receive a one-time additional assistance of up to P2,000. They comprise 3.5 million households.

Group 2 beneficiaries are poor households that are not 4Ps members, and refer to 'near-poor' households that are just slightly above or 25% above the poverty line. They comprise 2.5 million households.

Group 3 beneficiaries, meanwhile, are SSS members whose monthly salary credit is P20,000 and below. They comprise 1.5 million households.

DSWD said that Groups 2 and 3 beneficiaries are set to receive P2,000 in the next six months, or until December 2026.

According to the DSWD, the value of the P2,000-cash aid was determined based on the Asian Development Bank's fuel energy emergency simulation and the department's own simulation conducted with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) —VAL, GMA News