45 Eastern Visayas LGUs fail to submit cash aid report

TACLOBAN CITY –– At least 45 local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas have yet to submit their liquidation report on the distributed cash aid under the government’s social amelioration program (SAP).

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Eastern Visayas (DSWD-8) said 17 of these LGUs are from Leyte, eight from Northern Samar; seven from Eastern Samar, six from Biliran, six from Samar, and one from Southern Leyte.

The DSWD-8 required LGUs to submit their liquidation report 15 days after they finished the distribution of the SAP cash aid.

In Eastern Visayas, 550,662 families received the P5,000 financial assistance intended for households that lost their income due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The last LGU to finish the distribution of SAP in the region was Tarangan town in Samar, which completed the payouts only on June 2.

The delay in the SAP distribution to 2,133 beneficiaries was due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Tarangan.

Joshua Kempis, DSWD-8 SAP focal person, said LGUs need to submit their report so the government could start releasing the second tranche of the financial assistance.

“The second tranche cannot proceed without the liquidation,” he said.

LZB