CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 10 announced that low-income residents affected by community quarantine measures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) will be receiving cash and other assistance as mandated by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
DSWD-10 Regional Director Mari Flor Libang said they are preparing an Emergency Subsidy Program that includes food, non-food items, and cash assistance through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).
DSWD said Northern Mindanao or Region 10 has 892,500 households that will meet its category as low-income.
Libang said they expect this assistance to be released to beneficiaries on the first week of April.
The social support program is around P5,000 to P8,000 for each household, as mandated by the Heal as One Act and will be based on the maximum subsidy per region and determined from the region’s minimum wage levels.
Libang said beneficiary-families will be receiving P6,000 each, with P2,700 in the form of food and non-food items and P3,300 in cash.
She said the assistance will be endorsed by DSWD to the LGUs who will distribute this to household so families will no longer need to go out and line up in light of implementing social distancing measures.
The DSWD 10 requires local government units to prepare the list of target beneficiaries and provide each with a social amelioration card for profiling, access to assistance and monitoring.
“(The social amelioration card) will also serve as a monitoring tool to avoid the duplication of delivery of services. DSWD will also use the existing list of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program to validate the list submitted by LGUs,” the regional director said.
Families under the 4Ps will also be supported with the augmentation on their grants and rice subsidy to reach the maximum benefit per region, she said.
The DSWD will also be giving livelihood assistance grant to beneficiary-families through its sustainable livelihood program to at least one member of the family who is working in the informal sector. (davaotoday.com)
