Abra quake survivors to get cash aid from DSWD

A portion of an old Catholic church in Tayum, Abra province, one of its treasured heritage sites, is reduced to this following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (File photo from Reuters)

MANILA, Philippines — Residents of Abra province who survived the magnitude 7.0 that rocked northwestern Luzon last July 27 would get financial aid through the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The ECT Program was launched at the Provincial Capitol of Abra last Monday, with a total of P214.5 million allocated to 23,415 families in Abra and Mountain Province, the DSWD said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Abra, among the areas hit hardest by the earthquake, is the first recipient of the program.

“You can be assured that the national government, along with the local governments and partner organizations and other agencies, will continue to assist you in what you are going through,” Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo said in Filipino in a statement that was read by Undersecretary Vilma Cabrera said during the ECT launching in Abra.

The qualified beneficiaries of the ECT program are poor families listed under the DSWD Listahanan Poverty Database but are not currently receiving aid from the government’s conditional cash transfer program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Other criteria are as follows:

• those residing in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas
• families with members who are from the vulnerable sector
• families with casualties from the earthquake
• those with damaged houses

The DSWD said that families with partially damaged houses would receive cash aid worth 75 percent of the minimum regional daily wage rate in the area — that is, P280 for 30 days, or a total of P8,550.

Those with totally destroyed houses would receive the same amount but for 90 days —  or a total of P25,650.

Abra Gov. Dominic Valera thanked DSWD and Tulfo for helping the province, noting that the secretary was the first national government official to help the province.

“Our sincere appreciation forever, we will never forget,” Valera said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

Extensive damage has been reported in several areas in the highlands of the Cordillera and nearby regions after the strong earthquake took place.  At least five were killed while over 1,200 structures across regions were damaged.

—WITH A REPORT FROM ALYSSA JOY QUEVEDO (TRAINEE)

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