By Argyll Geducos
Only two percent of the intended 17.9 million beneficiaries of the first tranche of the government's social amelioration program (SAP) have not received the cash aid yet, President Duterte's 12th report to Congress revealed.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Based on his report, 17,654,832 beneficiaries were already served by the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis (AICS) Program as of June 12, leaving a total of 291,722 beneficiaries yet to be paid by the government.
A total of P99.82 billion of the allotted P100.98 billion of the first tranche of the SAP has been disbursed.
Some 4.23 million of the beneficiaries are members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), 13.31 million are non-members of the 4P’s, and 98,132 are drivers of transport network vehicle service (TNVS) and public utility vehicles (PUVs) in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Duterte's report likewise showed that 153,322 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of the intended 250,000 have benefited from the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE's) CAMP Abot-Kamay and Pagtulong (AKAP) for Displaced OFWs.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided other relief assistance to affected families amounting to P482.3 million as of June 12. The assistance included 1.14 million family food packs, among others.
The Department of the Agrarian Reform (DAR) has also distributed food packs to 119,637 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) of the targeted 124,448 ARBs.
SAP for small businesses
President Duterte's report showed that for the first tranches of the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program, 3.05 million or 98 percent of the 3.09 million beneficiaries have received their cash grants totaling P22.78 billion.
The remaining 40,000 employees are either awaiting confirmation or requiring correction of their bank account or phone numbers.
The payout for the second tranche of the SBWS program was moved to June 17 to give the SBWS Task Force time to check on duplication of subsidies with other social amelioration programs of the government.