DSWD Bicol nears aid disbursement completion a day before deadline

LEGAZPI CITY — With less than 24 hours left to disburse cash for the government aid during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Bicol has distributed P4.7 billion as of Sunday.

This is 88.25 percent of the region’s target for both the conditional cash transfer (CCT) beneficiaries, or the 4Ps, and the non-CCT beneficiaries.

DSWD Bicol spokesperson Marygizelle Mesa said that for the non-CCT beneficiaries, 90.59 percent of the target families have received the cash aid.

For the non-CCT beneficiaries, 85.90 percent of the families have already received their aid, she said.

Mesa clarified that the earlier report that only 38 percent in Bicol have been provided the cash aid only referred to the number of towns and cities that have fully complied.

As of this writing, 49 of the 114 local government units (LGUs) in the region have reported 100 percent disbursement.
“Bicol is leading in terms of total targets and the numbers of beneficiaries served,” Mesa told Inquirer.

She said that some LGUs have been having a slight delay in the disbursement of the cash aids due to security risks.

“The safety of the LGU staff, the DSWD monitoring team, and the beneficiaries during the distribution are important,” she said.

She also said that some banks have also running out of cash have also added to the delay.

“Since we are talking about millions here, there were banks that ran out of money so it took time before they could replenish. That was why some LGUs were not able to release the cash aid right away,” she said.

However, she said that the LGUs will finish the distribution by the end of the day, “or they will face charges.”