In continuation of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is in the process of preparing for the distribution of emergency cash subsidy to the 5 million “waitlisted” families directed by the President to be added in the first tranche of SAP implementation.
The Department reminded local government units (LGUs) across the nation to identify eligible low-income families, validated and assessed to be financially and economically affected by the declaration of community quarantine but were not included in the initial eighteen million family beneficiaries of SAP for the first tranche.
As stipulated in its guidelines, the master list submitted by the LGUs must include the names of the beneficiaries with a certification signed by the City/Municipal/ Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer and their local chief executive. The certification must state that the names on the submitted master list are reviewed and qualified or eligible based on existing guidelines.
Once the master list is submitted to the DSWD Field Office, it will be subjected to regional deduplication wherein cross-matching of the names of beneficiaries with the available databases of the Department and list/s shared by other government agencies implementing SAP will be performed to ensure that the names listed have not previously received aid. This will ascertain that there will be no duplication in the availment of emergency subsidies.
The list shall be further subjected to deduplication process at the DSWD Central Office to determine any duplication at the inter-regional level to arrive at a certified list.
The Department will issue Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms with code specifically for the additional beneficiaries.
DSWD is seeking the help of local governments units (LGUs) to post their master list in public so that their constituents can check the list of additional SAP beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, for the second tranche of SAP implementation, DSWD targeted 8.5 million low income families in ECQ areas and some 3.5 million waitlisted families from the 5 million additional families approved by President Duterte for inclusion in the program.
The areas covered by the second tranche will be based on Executive Order No. 112, S. of 2020 dated May 1. These areas include: Region III except Aurora Province; National Capital Region (NCR); Region CALABARZON; Benguet; Pangasinan; Iloilo; Cebu Province; Bacolod City; and Davao City. Albay Province and Zamboanga City will also be covered by the second tranche based on the Memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on May 2.
On the directive of President Duterte, DSWD will lead the distribution of the second tranche of SAP. The Department will also seek the assistance of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), particularly female soldiers in the distribution of the cash subsidy.
DSWD will also utilize the most expeditious means to provide assistance to qualified household beneficiaries. These may be in the form of payment through electronic or digital means, cash cards, transfer of funds to other National Government Agencies, door-to-door cash payout, or direct cash.
The Department, likewise, encouraged SAP beneficiaries to register to the ReliefAgad application to expedite the process of gathering beneficiaries’ information for validation and in order to avail of a safer and more convenient cashless disbursement.
SAP beneficiaries may register to the app by visiting www.reliefagad.ph Using a smartphone, beneficiaries will scan the barcode at the lower right-hand corner of the SAC form to proceed with the registration.
After completing the enrollment, the beneficiary will wait for DSWD’s confirmation and announcement for payout as it will conduct validations to the submitted registrations.
The Department continues to study and think of other innovative means to improve its protocols and guidelines for the 2nd tranche of SAP implementation. ###