Beneficiaries of DSWD program to receive P6K

EACH qualified household in Davao Region is set to receive P6,000 from the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under the Social Amelioration Measures of the national government thru the Bayanihan Heal As One Act.

DSWD Regional Director Grace Subong, in a virtual presser initiated by the Philippine Information Agency 11, announced that the subsidy for qualified beneficiaries is set to be downloaded to the DSWD 11.

“Once we have finalized a memorandum of agreement with the LGU, the money may be downloaded immediately to the LGU. It is now up to the LGU how they intend to distribute either by door to door or by clustering,” said Subong.

The DSWD, having the mechanism in place for its existing programs such as the 4Ps, is tasked to validate and listing prepared by the LGUs.

“We have ensured that this money will not be used for politics. This is not the money of any politician. The people deserve this money as one of the government’s assistance as we face this crisis,” Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-Davao) Regional Director Alex Roldan said.

The subsidy will be implemented for two months covering the months of April and May 2020 as defined in the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 or the special guidelines on the provision of social amelioration measures to the most affected residents of the areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine.

The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act empowers the national government to provide an emergency subsidy to 18 million low-income families.

The DSWD 11 explained that a social amelioration card (SAC) will be distributed at the barangay level, that captures the family profile which will be the mechanism for the affected families to access the social amelioration programs.

Beneficiaries in this program include senior citizens, person with disability, pregnant and lactating women, solo parents, overseas Filipinos in distress, indigent indigenous peoples, underprivileged sector and homeless citizens, and informal economy workers.

The DSWD targets to complete the orientation conducted with provincial and municipal officials to explain to them the mechanism, and finalize the agreement by which the two parties will implement.

The orientation was done with the presence of the provincial governor, municipal mayors, and ABC presidents.

Subong said if the LGU is ready, the DSWD can download the funds within this week. But DSWD asked the help of the LGUs to ensure that social distancing would still be practiced in the distribution. Factors such as venue, number of attendees, and transportation must be considered and urgently addressed to ensure smooth distribution of the subsidy.

The DSWD expects to receive and distribute more than P3 billion intended for Davao Region beneficiaries as estimated by the Department of Finance and the Philippine Statistics Authority data. /