DSWD starts distribution of P500 monthly ayuda to poor households

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has started the distribution of the promised P500 monthly ayuda as inflation relief, a lawmaker said on Wednesday.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said this is t hep 500 monthly subsidy promised earlier by President Duterte for struggling Filipino households amid the pandemic and rising oil prices.

“I have been informed that the Department of Social Welfare and Development will begin distributing the promised P500 monthly ayuda as inflation relief today. Around 1 million families are expected to receive [the subsidy] today through their cash cards and more will do so in the coming days to complete PRRD’S [Duterte] directive that the bottom 50 percent of families be provided aid,” he said.

“While this is by no means enough to address the impact of higher oil prices on Filipino families, it will also help ensure that the poorest families do not fall into hunger,” he said.

In line with the signing of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1, Series of 2022, the Duterte administration has started the distribution of the cash subsidy under the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) Program on June 29, 2022.

In a news statement, the DSWD said some 1.2 million household beneficiaries who have existing cash cards have received the first tranche amounting to P1,000 or two-months’ worth of subsidies.

The DSWD said the TCT program, which was announced by President Duterte earlier this year, aims to cushion the impact of the elevated costs of fuel and other commodities.

It added that the intended beneficiaries of the program are the bottom 50 percent of Filipino households around the country.

Signed by the DSWD, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, and the National Economic and Development Authority, the jmc provides the guidelines for the implementation of the TCT program.

Under the guidelines, the Duterte administration, through DSWD, is providing cash grants amounting to P3,000, or P500 per month for six months, to an approximate 12.4 million household-beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries are composed of 4 million households under the Pantawid pamilyang pilipino program (4ps); 6 mil lion non-4ps households and individuals who werepreviously beneficiaries of the unconditional cash transfer Program of 2018 to 2020 under the tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, which include beneficiaries of the Social Pension Program; and 2.4 million households in the database of Listahanan that fall within the first to fifth income decile, or other poverty data sources of the DSWD.