Over 13.2 million low-income families have received their second tranche of emergency cash subsidies under the national government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Sunday (August 23).
The DSWD reported around 13,285,248 beneficiaries got their cash aid, amounting to more than P79.3 million.
The total number of served recipients is 94 percent of the 14.1 million households targeted to receive the second wave of subsidies.
“Batay sa datos noong ika-22 ng Agosto (Based on the data, as of August 22), umaabot na sa P79.3 billion ang nailabas ng DSWD (The total amount disbursed by the DSWD reached P79.3 billion) para sa (for the) 13, 285, 248 pamilyang benepisyaryo ng (family beneficiaries of the) SAP,” it said In a report posted in its website.
The agency assured the public that the digital and manual payouts continue in 11 areas identified for the second phase implementation of SAP.
The 11 areas covered by SAP 2 are Region III (Central Luzon), except Aurora province, the NCR; Region IV-A (CALABARZON) ; Benguet; Pangasinan; Iloilo; Cebu Province; Bacolod City; Davao City, Albay province and Zamboanga City.
The agency vowed to exhaust all means to cover the more than 800,000 unserved beneficiaries, saying it has been closely coordinating with the local government units and its partner-Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to finish the distribution of the SAP "the soonest possible time.”
On Friday, August 21, the DSWD disclosed that more than 119,000 Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms of beneficiaries for the second tranche distribution have yet to be uploaded by the LGUs, while over 167,000 names of SAP 2 beneficiaries have yet to be validated.
It asked the LGUs to complete the uploading of the SAC forms to ensure that the concerned beneficiaries will receive their SAP 2 cash assistance.
During a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, August 18, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said the LGUs were given until August 19 to upload the SAC forms of over 300,000 SAP beneficiaries so that the DSWD can immediately process their entitled SAP subsidy as provided for under Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act.
He cited the failure of the LGUs to immediately upload the SAC forms of more than 300, 000 SAP 2 beneficiaries, and the failure of over 200,000 SAP beneficiaries to supply their personal information, like their mobile phone numbers as among the reasons that delayed the distribution of cash aid.
"To continue the distribution, the Department is still waiting for the local government units (LGUs) to complete the uploading of the SAC forms of the remaining 300,000 beneficiaries and the validation of 200,000 others lacking vital information such as mobile numbers and middle names,” the DSWD earlier said.
The DSWD was supposed to complete the digital and manual payouts of SAP 2 assistance last August 15.