More orderly system of distributing aid to students-in-crisis expected from DSWD-DILG partnership

On Saturday, Aug. 20, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) began the distribution of cash aid to eligible recipients of its Educational Assistance Payout to Students-in-Crisis, which is a part of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program. The distribution has been scheduled for five more Saturdays until Sept. 24.

Reporting on the Aug. 20 distribution, the DSWD on its official social media page said it released ₱154 million in educational aid to 53,000 students-in-crisis as of Aug. 22.

Following President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s guidance, the DSWD agreed to tap the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as its partner in distributing the assistance to qualified recipients.

Under this program, elementary students from families in crisis are qualified to receive ₱1,000; high school students, ₱2,000; senior high students, ₱3,000; and college and vocational students, ₱4,000.

The program is timely and laudable. The coronavirus pandemic brought on severe economic hardship during the past two years, especially to individualsin-crisis, who are the intended beneficiaries. The one-time payout can be used to pay for school fees, school supplies, projects, other fees, and allowances of students-in-crisis who may belong to any of the following groups: breadwinner, working student, orphan or abandoned and living with relatives, child of a single-parent, child whose parents are unemployed, child of an overseas Filipino worker, victim of child abuse, child whose parent is afflicted with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, and victim of calamity or disaster.

Walk-in applicants may go to the DSWD Central

Office in Quezon City and to its field offices in the regions. Expectedly, long queues formed last Saturday, and there was difficulty in controlling the big crowds of claimants. Online applications were also accepted, but they were a small minority compared to the hundreds who applied in person and waited to receive the assistance.

DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo apologized for the disorganized distribution system. He vowed a more systematic distribution in the next five Saturdays, with local governments pitching in to ensure order. After all, the DSWD has established its capability to extend similar assistance, most notably in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, more commonly known as 4Ps, which has since been institutionalized by virtue of Republic Act No. 11310 enacted in 2017. The DSWD credits cash grants to the 4.012 million household beneficiaries of the 4Ps who get their money from Land Bank of the Philippines branches using cash cards.

Both the DSWD and the DILG were also tasked to distribute cash aid or ayuda at the peak of the Covid-19 quarantine period pursuant to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law passed by Congress. The citizenry expects government to extend its services efficiently, even during crisis periods. Some local governments in Metro Manila are known to have given ayuda through electronic payment systems that have since become more conveniently accessible. With hope, the disorderly distribution on Aug. 20 will no longer be experienced.

Tulfo vowed that the system for the distribution of financial aid will be more systematic in the next Saturdays as the DSWD has partnered with the local government units for the cash payout to qualified beneficiaries.