Manila Bulletin
Philippines
DSWD working with DBM for the immediate release of emergency subsidy to low-income households
Philippines
DSWD working with DBM for the immediate release of emergency subsidy to low-income households
DSWD working with DBM for the immediate release of emergency subsidy to low-income households
Published Apr 1, 2020 12:00 am
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public on Wednesday that it is closely working with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to ensure the immediate release of the P5,000 to P8,000 emergency subsidy to the 18 million poor or low-income households.
Department of Social Welfare and Development
(MANILA BULLETIN) DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency is exhausting all means to ensure that the emergency subsidy will be given to the beneficiaries affected by the enhanced community quarantine as mandated by Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act of 2020, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last March 24. "We are working with DBM now," she told the Manila Bulletin in a Viber message when asked about the DSWD's scheduled distribution of the emergency subsidy. She also clarified that the government's Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) does not impose any conditionalities. "Pagtrabahuan? (You don't have to work for it. , It is not DSWD program," she said after some poor residents were reportedly asked to do some cleaning jobs in their barangays. Dumlao said the Field Offices of DSWD already downloaded the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms to the local governments units (LGUs). "LGUs, in turn, have printed and distributed the forms thru the barangay officials," she said, adding that the forms will be submitted to the DSWD FOs. The DSWD official maintained that they will take the cue from the LGUs that are tasked to prepare and endorse the list of the target beneficiaries with the complete documentary requirements to the concerned DSWD FO for verification. She noted that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued a memorandum circular directing all LGUs to identify all their target beneficiaries and submit a master list "not later than April 3." The Memorandum Circular No. 2020-065 was issued on March 30 to "all provincial governors, municipal and city mayors, heads of local sanggunians, punong barangays, DILG Regional Directors, BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) Minister of local government, and all others concerned." Members of the House of Representatives sought the immediate release of the government's social amelioration package. "P5,000 to P8,000 per poor family should have received their cash subsidy by now. That’s the Bayanihan law. The P3,600 for the poor under unconditional cash transfer for 2019 and another in 2020 should also have been distributed by now. Calling on DSWD and DBM. Please," Deputy Speaker and Antique lone district Rep. Loren Legarda said in a Twitter post. Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte lashed at the DSWD for supposedly imposing "cumbersome set of rules" on the release of emergency subsidy to the 18 million household-beneficiaries. “The DSWD leadership appears bereft of any sense of urgency at this time when millions of poor and low-income Filipino families have been struggling to survive two weeks into the period of personal-movement restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Villafuerte said in a statement. “At the rate the DSWD is taking its own sweet time in implementing a cumbersome set of rules on how the emergency funds are to be downloaded to LGUs, it may probably take a month before the target beneficiaries are finally able to get the first tranche of their P5,000 to P8,000 cash transfers per household.” He said the release of the emergency subsidy should not be delayed “Every single day of delay means another day of hunger for many of these target households,” Villafuerte said. President Duterte announced on Monday night during his televised speech that his government is launching the "largest and widest" social protection program that would benefit the low-income households and those belonging to the informal sector. President Duterte earlier said P200 billion has been allocated for such purpose. The DSWD said the social amelioration package will be extended by the Department and other agencies to the low-income households through the LGUs. Signed by President Duterte last week, RA 11469 mandates that each low-income household shall receive an emergency subsidy ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months, "in cash or in kind" from various national government agencies. The DSWD maintained that it is the LGUs' responsibility to prepare and endorse the list of the target beneficiaries with the complete documentary requirements to the concerned DSWD Field Office for verification. The Emergency Subsidy Program includes the DSWD's provision of food and non-food items (FNFI) and financial assistance through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) as well as those provided by other agencies, provided that the benefits received by each household does not exceed the prescribed threshold per region," the DSWD said in a statement issued on Sunday, March 29. The amount to be received by the vulnerable sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic is based on the maximum subsidy per region determined from the region's minimum wage levels. Low-income households in the National Capital Region (NCR) will receive the maximum subsidy of P8,000 under the Duterte government's ESP, while those poor families in at least seven regions will receive the minimum subsidy of P5,000. According to the ESP schedule provided by Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the low-income households in the NCR will be given P8,000 emergency subsidy. A cash subsidy amounting to P6,500 will be extended to two regions -- Region III (Central Luzon) and Region IV-A (Calabarzon). While low-income households in Region VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), and XI (Davao) will get P6,000 emergency subsidy from the government. Expected to receive P5,500 cash subsidy are poor households in three regions -- Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region I (Ilocos), and Region II (Cagayan Valley). Based on the ESP schedule, the minimum subsidy of P5,000 will be given to seven regions -- Region IV-B (Mimaropa), V (Bicol), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), XII (Soccksargen), CARAGA, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The DSWD said the existing list of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Program will be used to validate the list submitted by LGUs. It reassured the beneficiaries of the 4Ps that they will also be supported with a top-up on their grants and rice subsidy to reach the maximum benefit per region. "4Ps beneficiaries are most vulnerable to economic, social, and physical shocks such as this health crisis, thus, the need to augment their existing grants to help them with their daily needs," it said. As of Jan. 31, there are more than 4.2 million "active" 4Ps beneficiaries. The DSWD said it will also provide Livelihood Assistance Grants (LAG) to a beneficiary-family of its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), provided that at least one family member works in the informal sector and is displaced following the government's imposition of the community quarantine. "The family must be in the master list endorsed by the LGU to the DSWD Field Office (FO) and must still undergo assessment by a DSWD staff," it said. "The LAG will be given after the quarantine period has been lifted to help the families start anew," it added. The social amelioration measures are contained in the Joint Memorandum Circular forged by DSWD, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Finance (DOF), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Last week, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force has approved the social amelioration package benefitting the 18 million low-income households. "The social amelioration measures will help mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 health crisis and the enhanced community quarantine to the target beneficiaries, particularly the senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant and lactating mothers, solo parents, overseas Filipinos in distress, indigent Indigenous Peoples, homeless citizens, and the informal economy workers," the DSWD said.
Department of Social Welfare and Development(MANILA BULLETIN) DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency is exhausting all means to ensure that the emergency subsidy will be given to the beneficiaries affected by the enhanced community quarantine as mandated by Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act of 2020, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last March 24. "We are working with DBM now," she told the Manila Bulletin in a Viber message when asked about the DSWD's scheduled distribution of the emergency subsidy. She also clarified that the government's Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) does not impose any conditionalities. "Pagtrabahuan? (You don't have to work for it. , It is not DSWD program," she said after some poor residents were reportedly asked to do some cleaning jobs in their barangays. Dumlao said the Field Offices of DSWD already downloaded the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms to the local governments units (LGUs). "LGUs, in turn, have printed and distributed the forms thru the barangay officials," she said, adding that the forms will be submitted to the DSWD FOs. The DSWD official maintained that they will take the cue from the LGUs that are tasked to prepare and endorse the list of the target beneficiaries with the complete documentary requirements to the concerned DSWD FO for verification. She noted that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued a memorandum circular directing all LGUs to identify all their target beneficiaries and submit a master list "not later than April 3." The Memorandum Circular No. 2020-065 was issued on March 30 to "all provincial governors, municipal and city mayors, heads of local sanggunians, punong barangays, DILG Regional Directors, BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) Minister of local government, and all others concerned." Members of the House of Representatives sought the immediate release of the government's social amelioration package. "P5,000 to P8,000 per poor family should have received their cash subsidy by now. That’s the Bayanihan law. The P3,600 for the poor under unconditional cash transfer for 2019 and another in 2020 should also have been distributed by now. Calling on DSWD and DBM. Please," Deputy Speaker and Antique lone district Rep. Loren Legarda said in a Twitter post. Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte lashed at the DSWD for supposedly imposing "cumbersome set of rules" on the release of emergency subsidy to the 18 million household-beneficiaries. “The DSWD leadership appears bereft of any sense of urgency at this time when millions of poor and low-income Filipino families have been struggling to survive two weeks into the period of personal-movement restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Villafuerte said in a statement. “At the rate the DSWD is taking its own sweet time in implementing a cumbersome set of rules on how the emergency funds are to be downloaded to LGUs, it may probably take a month before the target beneficiaries are finally able to get the first tranche of their P5,000 to P8,000 cash transfers per household.” He said the release of the emergency subsidy should not be delayed “Every single day of delay means another day of hunger for many of these target households,” Villafuerte said. President Duterte announced on Monday night during his televised speech that his government is launching the "largest and widest" social protection program that would benefit the low-income households and those belonging to the informal sector. President Duterte earlier said P200 billion has been allocated for such purpose. The DSWD said the social amelioration package will be extended by the Department and other agencies to the low-income households through the LGUs. Signed by President Duterte last week, RA 11469 mandates that each low-income household shall receive an emergency subsidy ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months, "in cash or in kind" from various national government agencies. The DSWD maintained that it is the LGUs' responsibility to prepare and endorse the list of the target beneficiaries with the complete documentary requirements to the concerned DSWD Field Office for verification. The Emergency Subsidy Program includes the DSWD's provision of food and non-food items (FNFI) and financial assistance through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) as well as those provided by other agencies, provided that the benefits received by each household does not exceed the prescribed threshold per region," the DSWD said in a statement issued on Sunday, March 29. The amount to be received by the vulnerable sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic is based on the maximum subsidy per region determined from the region's minimum wage levels. Low-income households in the National Capital Region (NCR) will receive the maximum subsidy of P8,000 under the Duterte government's ESP, while those poor families in at least seven regions will receive the minimum subsidy of P5,000. According to the ESP schedule provided by Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the low-income households in the NCR will be given P8,000 emergency subsidy. A cash subsidy amounting to P6,500 will be extended to two regions -- Region III (Central Luzon) and Region IV-A (Calabarzon). While low-income households in Region VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), and XI (Davao) will get P6,000 emergency subsidy from the government. Expected to receive P5,500 cash subsidy are poor households in three regions -- Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region I (Ilocos), and Region II (Cagayan Valley). Based on the ESP schedule, the minimum subsidy of P5,000 will be given to seven regions -- Region IV-B (Mimaropa), V (Bicol), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), XII (Soccksargen), CARAGA, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The DSWD said the existing list of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Program will be used to validate the list submitted by LGUs. It reassured the beneficiaries of the 4Ps that they will also be supported with a top-up on their grants and rice subsidy to reach the maximum benefit per region. "4Ps beneficiaries are most vulnerable to economic, social, and physical shocks such as this health crisis, thus, the need to augment their existing grants to help them with their daily needs," it said. As of Jan. 31, there are more than 4.2 million "active" 4Ps beneficiaries. The DSWD said it will also provide Livelihood Assistance Grants (LAG) to a beneficiary-family of its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), provided that at least one family member works in the informal sector and is displaced following the government's imposition of the community quarantine. "The family must be in the master list endorsed by the LGU to the DSWD Field Office (FO) and must still undergo assessment by a DSWD staff," it said. "The LAG will be given after the quarantine period has been lifted to help the families start anew," it added. The social amelioration measures are contained in the Joint Memorandum Circular forged by DSWD, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Finance (DOF), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Last week, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force has approved the social amelioration package benefitting the 18 million low-income households. "The social amelioration measures will help mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 health crisis and the enhanced community quarantine to the target beneficiaries, particularly the senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant and lactating mothers, solo parents, overseas Filipinos in distress, indigent Indigenous Peoples, homeless citizens, and the informal economy workers," the DSWD said.