Legarda wants DSWD to expedite cash aid to poor families affected by TRAIN

Senator Loren Legarda. FILE PHOTO

Senator Loren Legarda on Sunday said she has asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and their bank partners to expedite distribution of unconditional cash transfer (UCT) to families affected by skyrocketing prices amid the implementation of tax reform law.

Legarda, chair of Senate committee on finance, said she would meet DSWD to discuss how to expedite the release of unconditional cash subsidy to six million more poor families affected by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).

Under the TRAIN law, at least 10 million families should be given P200 monthly unconditional cash subsidy. Of the 10 million, 4.4 million are Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries.

According to DSWD, families will receive P200 per month for 2018 and P300 a month in 2019 and 2020.

“That’s one thing, I will meet the DSWD because they said they can’t implement it all so we need to look for ways to expedite the distribution,” Legard said in an interview over DZBB.

She said the DSWD should not rely on just one financial institution — the Land Bank of the Philippines — for the distribution subsidy.

In a privilege speech at the Senate, Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino said only 2.6 million of 10 million Filipino households have received financial assistance.

DSWD has only started distributing cash assistance in March. /je