By Charissa Luci-Atienza
Over 17.3 million beneficiaries or 95.9 percent of the 18 million low-income families targeted to receive the emergency subsidies under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) have been served, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said on Monday, May 18.
Based on the DSWD's SAP monitoring report provided by DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao, as of 8 p.m., May 17, P97.7 billion or 97. 7 percent of the P100 billion SAP funds allocated for the first tranche of cash aid has been given to the beneficiaries in the 17 regions.
The report noted that out of the P81.7 billion SAP funds downloaded to the local government units (LGUs), P79 billion has been disbursed to a total of 13, 045, 720 non-Pantawid Pamilya families.
Based on the agency's latest SAP monitoring report, a total of 4, 194, 498 million recipients of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) received P18.2 billion worth of emergency subsidies.
Meanwhile, the number of families of Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) and Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) drivers who benefitted from the SAP stood at 62,028. The TNVS and PUV families got P496.2 million subsidy allocation, it said.
Dumlao earlier said the agency is closely coordinating with the local government units (LGUs) to ensure the immediate and complete distribution of the first tranche of emergency subsidies to all 18 million low-income families.
She reminded the LGUs to immediately submit their liquidation reports after completing the SAP payouts.
Under DSWD guidelines, the LGUs are required to submit the liquidation and financial reporting documents, including the list of encoded SAP beneficiaries, to the DSWD within 15 days from the completion of the distribution.
President Duterte had directed the DSWD to lead the SAP distribution following the snowballing complaints about purported irregularities in the release of emergency subsidies.
Under Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, 18 million low-income households are entitled to receive emergency cash subsidies ranging from P5,000 to 8,000, depending on respective regional wage rates, for the months of April and May.