CEBU CITY, Philippines – Just one day before the deadline, and only five local government units (LGUs) in the entire Central Visayas have completed the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) subsidy to low-income families in the region.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-7 information officer Leah Quintana said that LGUs which have completed the distribution of the SAP subsidy are the towns of Pilar, Tudela, and Poro in Cebu Province, Vallehermoso in Negros Oriental, and Pilar in Bohol.
“So kining lima, nakahuman na sa ilang pagpang-apod-apod sa atong Social Amelioration subsidy sa ilang mga low income families sa maong dapit,” Quintana said.
Earlier, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año set the deadline on April 30 for LGUs to complete the distribution of the subsidy.
Año even cautioned the LGUs to abide by the terms after signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DSWD or be held accountable for failure to do so.
Quintana said that based on their records, around 325,675 low-income families in the region have already received the SAP subsidy, wherein each family received P6,000 after their livelihood has been affected with the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
The agency has also disbursed almost P2 billion for the said program.
She added that DSWD-7 has also completed the transfer of P6.3 billion to LGUs in the entire region.
The agency is also continuously augmenting family food packs to poor families, through the LGUs’ requests.
“Aron padayon ta’ng makatubag sa mga panginahanglanon sa atong mga local government units, labi na sa pagtabang sa ilang mga lumulupyo, kabahin niining operations nato sa pagsugpo niining COVID nga part of it is the augmentation support through our family food packs,” she added.
At present, Quintana revealed that they’ve already distributed 38,138 family food packs worth P14.831 million to different LGUs in the region.
DSWD-7 has also a stockpile of 49,100 family food packs worth P19.164 million. /rcg