Over 2.6 million small-business workers receive cash grants amid COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Cash grants have been given to more than 2.6 million small-business employees to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte said in his eighth report to Congress on Monday.

According to the report, which documents the measures that the administration has taken to respond to the pandemic, a total of P20.4 billion cash grants have been released by the Social Security System (SSS) to 2,654,155 employee beneficiaries under the Small Business Wage Subsidy Program (SBWS) as of May 14.

The Bureau of Treasury has likewise transferred P25.5 billion to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for the second tranche of the program.

Under the SBWS program, a total of P50.8 billion has been allotted for distribution to around 3.4 million workers, who are each entitled to receive a monthly subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months.

The report noted that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is sharing its list of beneficiaries under its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) to the Department of Finance and the SSS to avoid duplication of the benefits received.

“Employers were also asked to disclose in their SBWS application which employees ave received assistance under the CAMP. CAMP beneficiaries who are also approved under the SBWS program will receive the latter subsidy less the P5,0000 already received under the CAMP,” Duterte’s report noted.

“To facilitate the reversal, P5,000 will be deducted from the 2nd tranche payouts,” it added.

The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, or Republic Act No. 11469, granted the President additional powers to address the coronavirus pandemic and is required to submit a weekly report to Congress “of all acts performed pursuant to this Act.”

He is required to submit the report every Monday of the week.

/atm