DSWD-7 asks Cebu City’s help in finishing SAP distribution

CEBU CITY, Philippines — There are 117,126 families in Cebu City who successfully received their Special Amelioration Program (SAP) for the first wave of the distribution.

Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) reported to the Cebu City Council on Thursday, May 21, 2020, that Cebu City is already 80.97 percent complete in the distribution.

Rebecca Geamala, the director of DSWD-7, urged the city government to help them finish the distribution to the remaining 22,356 families.

Read: 2 LGUs ask extension of SAP distribution

This is the only way that DSWD can begin the second wave of the SAP for the second month of the community quarantine. SAP beneficiaries will receive P6,000 financial aid.

Geamala said the city government should be able to complete the distribution in two days time.

“We ask your help to finish this 22,000 families, so we can send the report to the central office,” said Geamala.

Councilor Philip Zafra urged the DSWD-7 to give the second wave of the SAP to families that have been denied from the first wave.

Geamala said there is still no definite guidelines that those who received the SAP in the first wave will also receive them in the second wave.

There are many proposals in the national office for the distribution of the SAP to other batch of families, but the President has yet to decide on the matter.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Michael Rama, questioned the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) of the city government with the DSWD-7.

In the MOA, the local government unit (LGU) will be held criminally liable for the malfeasance of the SAP distribution.

Rama said the LGU officials should not be held liable for the SAP distribution because the President delegated the DSWD for the distribution, not the LGU.

Geamala said the DSWD is amicable of removing such article in the MOA. /bmjo