Shalaine Marie Lucero, assistant regional director of DSWD-7, attends the distribution of HCT Plus financial assistance in Bohol which was done in partnership with UNICEF. | Photo Courtesy of DSWD-7
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — Some 2,000 families in the Province of Bohol had received P5,000 Humanitarian Cash Transfer (HCT) Plus assistance early this month.
HCT Plus was given to super typhoon Odette-affected families, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The cash assistance was released through UNICEF’s financial service provider. Each beneficiary was given a unique transaction reference code.
Of the beneficiaries, 537 are from the municipality of Tubigon, and 1,453 are from the municipality of San Isidro.
Beneficiaries from San Isidro were also given an additional P100 as a transportation subsidy to cover their trips to and from the nearest RD Pawnshop, where they could withdraw their cash grants.
UNICEF also conducted learning sessions through a limited face-to-face discussion on child health and nutrition, protection, COVID-19 infection control, water sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
Households that did not receive cash assistance from government agencies or development partners, as well as those with children aged 18 and under, lactating and/or pregnant women, children with disabilities, and those suffering from or at risk of malnutrition, have been identified as beneficiaries of the UNICEF-DSWD HCT Plus.
In March 2022, DSWD and UNICEF inked a Memorandum of Understanding to process the guidelines of HCT Plus.
Another batch of UNICEF-DSWD HCT Plus beneficiaries in the Province of Bohol is also still being processed and identified.
However, those who received the grant will no longer be able to avail of the DSWD Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations of the same amount. /rcg
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