FSPs tapped for SAP digital payout
THE government allowed the full operation of financial service providers (FSPs) to hasten the distribution of cash subsidies under the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) even in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
The Inter- Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Resolution 61 on Thursday, adopting the recommendation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to let FSPs involved in the release of the SAP aid to operate at “full operational capacity”.
The IATF- EID acknowledged the need to introduce amendments to further streamline the government’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid-19) pandemic.
“Pursuant to the pertinent provisions of the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, partner financial service providers are hereby allowed to operate at full capacity,” the resolution read.
“As such, the employees of said financial service providers shall be allowed full mobility in the performance of their functions,” it added.
The resolution said that allowing the DSWD’s partner-FSPs would “ensure the uninterrupted distribution of social amelioration to the most vulnerable.”
It also authorized the “limited movement” of SAP beneficiaries to avail of and receive financial aid from the national government.
“Beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program not otherwise restricted shall be allowed limited movement to avail of and receive such benefits,” it added.
Areas that were reverted to MECQ until August 18 are Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal.
The DSWD, the lead agency implementing the SAP, inked on June 30 a memorandum of agreement with state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and six FSPs — GCash, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Robinson’s Bank, PayMaya, Unionbank and Starpay.
The agency partnered with the six FSPs to facilitate the faster digital payouts of the cash aid after concerns were raised over the delays in the first tranche.
The SAP allows the government to distribute temporary cash assistance worth P5,000 to P8,000 to poor households to help them cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of this week, the DSWD has so far distributed P63.2 billion to more than 9.7 million low-income households who are qualified to receive the second tranche of the emergency subsidies under the SAP.