DSWD: Beneficiaries to receive cash aid in full

MANILA, Philippines — Beneficiaries will receive the whole amount of P5,000 to P8,000 cash from the government’s social amelioration program, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Thursday.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said the cash will be given on top of the food packs it is distributing to the beneficiaries.

“In cash na ang matatanggap nila para makumpleto yung designated amount sa kanilang region. Hindi na ito magiging combination ng food packs at cash amount,” Bautista said in a public briefing.

(They will receive it in cash so that the designated amount will be completed per region. It will not be a combination of food packs and the cash amount.)

“Ibig sabihin, kung bibigyan sila ng tatlong package ng food packs which cost more than P1,000, hindi ito ibabawas sa designated amount per region,” he explained.

(This means that if they receive, for instance, three food packages which cost more than P1,000, this amount will not be deducted from the cash assistance designated per region.)

Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, some 18 million low-income families will benefit from the government’s cash assistance program.

The amount to be given to the beneficiaries will depend on the minimum wage in their respective regions.

Beneficiaries of the said program include informal sector workers whose livelihoods were affected by the strict quarantine measures and members of other vulnerable sectors.

GSG