DSWD aid to low income families in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan out on April 15

The San Jose del Monte City government will begin the distribution of social amelioration aid to over 66,000 low income families amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Wednesday, April 15, an official said.

City Director Jayson Jumaquio of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was referring to the P5,000 to P8,000 cash aid per family, depending on the region’s minimum wage rate, amid the COVID-19 threat. The subsidy amount for Region 3 is P6,500.

“Iyon pong sa 4Ps families, nakuha na po nila lahat. Pero sa low-income families outside 4Ps, magsisimula po tayo ng distribution sa Wednesday, at ang pilot areas po ay limang barangays,” Jumaquio told GMA News Online in a phone interview.

“San Jose del Monte City has 59 barangays in total. We hope to finish the distribution to 59 barangays by month’s end,” Jumaquio added.

Luzon has been under an enhanced community quarantine—a measure that banned mass transport and prohibited mass gathering  to prevent COVID-19 transmission—since March 16. The quarantine period should have ended today but it was extended until April 30 .

'Magic 66,999'

Jumaquio then shared that the local government was able to locate the target beneficiaries thru a house-to-house distribution of profiling forms which started on April 2.

Each household filled out the forms and submitted  them back to the barangay officials, who in turn turned them over to the city government before finally being transmitted to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the latter’s evaluation.

“We have 200,000 households in our city. Ang naibigay lang sa atin na slot for the amelioration aid, 66,999. Napakalaki po ng pagkakaiba, kaya we distributed profiling forms to all families since April 2. We submitted them all [profiling form] for DSWD's consideration,” Jumaquio said.

“From that profiling form which indicates the monthly income of the family, doon na nakita ng DSWD kung sino ang dapat makakuha ng social amelioration card (SAC), iyong may bar code, para sa tulong galing sa DSWD. Doon na nakita kung sino ang puedeng pumasok sa Magic 66,999,” Jumaquio added.

Jumaquio said the profiling form was a big help and reduced risks of barangay officials carrying huge amounts of cash around for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.

“Kaya po may profiling form, para alam na po agad kung sino ang bibigyan ng SAC. Kasi kung iisa isahin po, tapos dala dala ng mga taga baranagay ang pera, hindi rin po safe kasi baka po dumugin,” Jumaquio stressed.

Distribution proper

The SAC cards, Jumaquio said, will be distributed by barangay officials house-to-house, alongside the schedule and venue where the qualified beneficiary can get the cash aid under the social amelioration program.

“Itong five barangays na pilot areas, maliliit lang ito so walang problema. Ang challenge talaga ay iyong malalaking areas,”  Jumaquio said.

“Sa malalaking barangays, the SAC (cards) will be distributed, and then they will also be given schedule when to get amelioration aid. Yung iba, 8 to 10 am, then 10 to 12 noon, and so forth. At isa lang ang puede kumuha, dala iyong SAC,” Jumaquio added.

In closing, Jumaquio assured the public that barangay, city, DILG and DSWD officials had met ahead to ensure social distancing measures are in place in distributing the amelioration aid to low income families.

“There would be larger venues for aid distribution for big barangays, such as school premises, para hindi dumugin,” Jumaquio said.

“We have also coordinated with the military and the police, para siguraduhin na may social distancing,” he added. -MDM, GMA News