MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released a total of P141 million in cash assistance for indigent students ahead of the opening of classes, as of August 21.
This was revealed by DSWD Undersecretary Jerico Javier in a Facebook post, showing that the DSWD has so far disbursed P141,049,500 in educational aid as of 2:30 a.m., Sunday.
This translated to a total of 48,033 beneficiaries.
The region with the highest number of cash assistance disbursed was Western Visayas with a total of P20,760,000 disbursed aid, given to 5,144 recipients; followed by the Ilocos Region with P20,422,000 for 5,715 beneficiaries; then Calabarzon with P14,292,000 for 5,019 beneficiaries.
On the other hand, Caraga region registered the fewest beneficiaries with only 216 individuals provided with a total of P719,000 educational assistance.
This marked the first weekend of the DSWD’s distribution of P500 million cash assistance to indigent students to help them pay for education-related expenses.
However, DSWD failed to anticipate huge crowds flocking to its central and regional offices, and resulted in a stampede in Zamboanga — where 29 individuals were injured. DSWD Sec. Erwin Tulfo, for his part, blamed the mess on miscommunication.
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