DSWD flexes muscles to finish all payouts for poor families, indigent seniors before year-end

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public Tuesday (Dec 8) that it is exhausting all means to ensure that all its payouts, including the distribution of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) subsidy under Bayanihan 1 and emergency subsidies to non-SAP recipients will be completed before year ends.
 
DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said they are committed to distribute all the subsidies as provided under the already-lapsed Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, and Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, popularly known as Bayanihan 2, and the social pension to indigent elderly within this month.
 
"Para sa mangilan ngilan na lang po na hindi nakakatanggap ng kanilang SAP but are qualified and are not duplicates maaari lang na po na pakihintay na lang sapagkat may impormasyon na kailangan iprocess. Isa na po dyan yung information on their middle names and contact numbers, at 'yan po batay sa concept ng  service providers na kailangang maiprovide. So they are being reprocessed and hopefully ito ay matapos na natin in coordination with our FSPs,” she said during the "Laging Handa” network briefing. 
 
(For those few who have yet to receive their SAP, but are qualified and are not duplicates, kindly wait for your subsidy because there are information that have yet to be processed. One of which is the information on their middle names and contact numbers, and that is based on the concept of the financial service providers that should be provided. So they are being reprocessed and hopefully, we can complete this in coordination with our FSPs.)
 
She noted that based on their latest SAP monitoring data, more than P85.3 million worth of SAP subsidies have been distributed to over 14.3 million family-beneficiaries.
 
Included in the latest list of SAP 2 beneficiaries are over 1.3 million beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); more than 6 million low-income, and non-4Ps recipients; over 3.3 million  “waitlisted”, low-income, and non-4Ps households nationwide; more than 1.8 million “waitlisted” beneficiaries from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) areas; and 200,000 families of public transport driver-recipients.
 
The beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Displaced/ Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) Program #Barangay Ko, Bahay KO (#BKBK) Disinfection/Sanitatoon Project,  and recipients of DA’s financial subsidy to rice farmers also got SAP 2 subsidies as provided under Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2, which was signed on June 9, 2020  by eight government agencies, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
 
Dumlao said more than 64,000 low-income families have benefited from the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) under Bayanihan 2.
 
According to her, more than P435 million worth of emergency subsidies have been distributed to 64, 839 family-beneficiaries.
 
She said around 14, 603 families from areas under granular lockdown received their entitled subsidy, while, a total of 50, 236  “additional beneficiaries” or those who were not given Social Amelioration Program (SAP) 1 and 2 subsidies also benefited from the Bayanihan 2’s subsidy program.
 
The subsidies  distributed to beneficiaries in granular lockdown amounted to P83.1 million, while some P352.7 million worth of subsidies have been given to a total of 50, 236 additional beneficiaries. 
 
Dumlao also assured the public that the DSWD is committed to distribute the social pension of all indigent senior citizens, and fully implement all its programs. 
 
“As committed ng DSWD, tatapusin po natin ang payouts (we will finish the payouts), not only for the social pension, but other programs of the department, dahil kinakailangan po natin ma-utilize  ang pondo by the end of this year (because we need to fully utilize the funds by the end of this year),” she said.