Messy as it may be, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said that its educational assistance program has disbursed P141 million which benefitted 48,000 individuals nationwide.
DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo announced that the final report was submitted to him at 3 a.m. Sunday, August 21, a day after the program caused mayhem in different parts of the country due to long queues of applicants in its national and local field offices.
“Forty-eight thousand (both online applicants and walk in) were assisted by the DSWD in the first Saturday of its educational assistance program,” Tulfo said in Filipino.
“A total of P141 million were distributed to students nationwide,” he added.
Tulfo vowed that the system for the distribution of financial aid will be more systematic in the next Saturdays as the DSWD already partnered with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs) for the cash payout to qualified beneficiaries.
Prior to this, the DSWD chief already apologized for the disorganized system of cash aid distribution in its head office in Quezon City on Saturday, August 20, and field offices around the country.
“We are very sorry. For those who are furious at us right now because we weren’t able to cater everyone, our sincerest apologies. We will do better next time and in the remaining five Saturdays,” he said.
Under the educational assistance program of the DSWD, elementary students from families in crisis are qualified to receive P1,000; high school students with P2,000; senior high students with P3,000; and college and vocational students with P4,000.
The program accepts as beneficiaries up to three children per family. The program will last for six Saturdays which began on August 20 until September 24.