Cua: DSWD to give full UCT amount to 8 million families by end July

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has committed to provide by end of July the full amount of P2,400 for 2018 to eight million families targeted by the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, a lawmaker said on Friday.

During Thursday’s roundtable discussion, Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, chair of the House ways and means committee said government agencies have committed to expedite the release of subsidies to underprivileged families affected by taxes under the TRAIN law.

The UCT targets 4.4 million beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pasada Program, 3 million beneficiaries under the Social Pension Program for indigent Senior Citizens, and 600,000 beneficiaries identified using the Listahanan. The remaining two million beneficiaries targeted are expected to receive their cash transfers by mid-September.

Cua, in a statement Friday, added that this July, the Department of Transportation is also set to roll out the Pantawid Pasada Program that would provide public utility jeepney (PUJ) franchise holders with discounts in their purchase of fuel. A total of P977 million is budgeted in 2018 for the subsidy. The amount will be loaded into debit cards to be distributed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board regional offices.

Aside from these Cua said the social benefits card, which the executive agencies planned to integrate to the National ID System, should proceed ahead of the enactment of National ID system to avoid further delays.

The card aims to provide the unemployed, minimum wage earners, and the poorest 50 percent of the population with discounts on transportation and rice, and free skills training.

“The government already has a database of beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer. This is a subset of the unemployed, minimum wage earners, and poorest 50% of the population that the government can immediately give social benefits cards to,” Cua said.

The Department of Budget and Management is also set to convene an inter-agency meeting within this month to firm up the details on the social benefits card and its attached benefits.

A second roundtable discussion is expected to be scheduled this July, according to Cua.  /muf