DSWD: Over half of total UCT beneficiaries already received cash grants

UNDER a DSWD program, elderly beneficiaries of the government’s cash aid program, like this woman in Cebu City, will no longer have to travel far to get their aid. The cash would be delivered to their doorsteps. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

More than 5.65 million out of 10 million Filipinos have already received their ₱2,400 Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) grants for 2018 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The UCT is the tax subsidy program under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which seeks to provide support to 10 million indigent Filipinos to cushion the impact of the adjustments in the excise tax of petroleum products and sweetened beverages.

DSWD has so far utilized a total of ₱13,477,994,400 for the cash grants of 5,651,831 beneficiaries nationwide.

“The Department has accomplished 56.52 percent of our target, and we plan to finish providing the cash grants to the remaining 4,348,417 by September,” DSWD Secretary Virginia N. Orogo said.

Beneficiaries of the grants include 4,295,464 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, 1,215,426 seniors under the Social Pension Program, and 104,941 families under the Listahanan.

Orogo stressed that the UCT grant is just an added assistance to help the poor cope with the increasing prices of basic commodities.

The DSWD assured that it is continuously conducting pay-outs to the remaining beneficiaries.

“We know that our kababayans really need this assistance. We are doing our best to fast-track the distribution so that they can already use the cash assistance for their basic needs,” Orogo assured. /jpv