The Daily Manila Shimbun

 

DSWD assures public LGUs will give list of those who have no social amelioration card

April 6, 2020



The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday assured the public that local government officials will submit to them the list of those who will not be able to receive a social amelioration card.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista, in a radio interview, said  local government units (LGUs) are knowledgeable about their constituents and they have information on the profile of the target beneficiaries.

Bautista said the problem they are facing is that the number of beneficiaries for the social amelioration program exceeds the number set by the national government.

“What we advised on the LGUs is to get the validated target beneficiary who failed to be included,” he said.

Bautista said all names of these beneficiaries will be collected and submitted to the DSWD Central Office so they can present it to the Department of Finance.

“So that our economic managers will know how much they will add on the 100 billion (peso) budget (allotted for the program),” Bautista said.

Bautista did not say how many beneficiaries are set to be included on the social amelioration program.

Bautista made the statement after some residents and even local government officials claimed there are not enough social amelioration card for all target beneficiary in their areas.

Around 18 million families who were severely affected by the enhanced community quarantine are included in the program where each family will receive  a special subsidy consisting of food items and cash ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 depending on the minimum wage of the affected region.

Bautista also reminded  local government officials it is their responsibility to be fair and not favor anyone in listing target beneficiaries.

“The LGUs play a big role here because they are the ones who are familiar on the profile of the target beneficiary and at the same time, it’s their responsibility to be fair any not favor anyone,” he said.

He urged the public to report to them or the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) any local and barangay officials who are doing irregularities.

“We encourage people to complain to prevent any irregularities in the distribution of the social amelioration assistance,” Bautista said.

In a TV interview, DSWD Director Justin Batocabe said priority on the program is the “poorest family”. Even if there are two eligible persons in one residence, that family will only receive one assistance from the government.

“We gave (assistance) per family and what is important is there is at least one eligible to receive the assistance,” Batocabe said.

Based on the guidelines, those who are eligible for the program, aside from 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) beneficiaries, are senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant or lactating mothers, and solo parent, Overseas Filipino Workers in distress, informal workers, occasional workers, homeless, house helpers and family drivers, drivers of public utility vehicles, micro-entrepreneurs and producers, operators of sari-sari stores, and family enterprise owners.

DSWD hopes to fast track the distribution of assistance but according to Bautista, due to the Holy Week, they might finish distributing even after their target deadline on April 12.

Aside from this, he said there is a delay in payout from the LGU because they are focused on validating deserving beneficiaries.

“Even if add one day it is better if the list is well validated. This is people’s money so there should be transparency and accountability,” Bautista said.

According to the DSWD, they gave at least two days for barangay officials to produce the social amelioration card, two more days to give and collect it and three days to submit the list to the central office.

Once the list is  received by the DSWD, they will conduct checking on the names to prevent duplication for one day and once validation is done, they will ready the payment within three days.  Ella Dionisio/DMS