3.2M SAP beneficiaries get cash aid
We hope to complete the payouts for second tranche through a combination of digital and direct payouts by the end of July
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said 3.2 million beneficiaries of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) have already received cash aid.
During the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability as to the anomalies in relation to the distribution of SAP, Undersecretary Danilo Pamonag said as of 16 July, a total of P19.4 billion was already disbursed for the 3.2 million beneficiaries.
DSWD reported before the same panel last Tuesday
that only 1.3 million beneficiaries of the about 17 million SAP beneficiaries have received cash aid.
Pamonag said the DSWD hopes to complete payouts by end of July.
“We hope to complete the payouts for second tranche through a combination of digital and direct payouts by the end of July.”
However, he also said some payouts may extend up to August due to various factors such as mobility constraints in reaching geographically isolated areas and conflict affected areas.
He also said there may be possible delays because some SAP implementers are getting exposed to COVID-19.
“Delays may occur due to the need of SAP implementers to observe the 14-day quarantine once exposed to COVID-19.”
During the previous hearing of the panel, Pamonag attributed the delay on distribution to the deduplication being conducted by the agency. This is the process of examining if there are beneficiaries who received cash aid from more than one government agency which also distribute SAP.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said aside from the deduplicaton, some local government units are yet to submit liquidation reports.
The DSWD is targeting a total of 17 million beneficiaries for the second tranche of SAP. Of the number, 12 million are families living in areas under enhanced community quarantine. The remaining five million are the waitlisted beneficiaries.