Over P60.7M cash subsidy disbursed to 10,132 low-income families in C.Visayas

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY-- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas has disbursed P60,792,000 of emergency cash subsidy worth P6,000 each to a total of 10,132 low-income families in Central Visayas as of December 9 this year.

DSWD-7 Regional Director Rebecca Geamala stressed that the Bayanihan 2 is not to be interpreted as SAP 3 or successor of SAP 1 and SAP 2 under the already-lapsed Bayanihan to Heal As One Act or the Republic Act No. 11469.

Geamala said that DSWD started implementing the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or the Republic Act No. 11494 as the agency’s response and recovery intervention to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The target beneficiaries under ESP are the affected low-income families in areas under granular lockdown; those qualified families but were not granted SAP 1 and SAP 2 subsidies under RA No. 11469; and recently returned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who belong to low-income families and are physically residing in areas under granular lockdown, Geamala explained.

“The final certified list of beneficiaries shared by the Local Chief Executive (LCE) used in the implementation of the ESP of the DSWD shall be the primary reference of the eligible beneficiaries,” Geamala added.

Out of the 10,132 families, 525 beneficiaries living in areas under “granular lockdown” since September 14 who were granted Php 6,000.00 each and were from Trinidad, Tubigon, and San Miguel in Bohol and Zamboanguita in Negros Oriental, Geamala bared.

According to DSWD-7 regional information officer Leah Quintana that the DSWD-Field Office VII has also provided ESP to 9,607 beneficiaries to those families who were not included in the earlier implementation of SAP.

Using the final certified list, Quintana added that the concerned local government units (LGUs) identify the beneficiaries based on the eligibility criteria and who are physically residing within all levels of granular lockdown like barangay, block, street, subdivision/village, residential building, or house.

The Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG), Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP), Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SocPen), and distribution of food and non-food items are also implemented under Bayanihan 2, aside from the ESP, Quintana added.