DSWD: Still no funds for ‘inflation ayuda’

Photo courtesy of DSWD-7/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Saturday that the government’s promised cash aid to 9.3 million “poorest of the poor” cannot be distributed because it has yet to get the funds and disbursement guidelines for the program.

The second round of the government’s Targeted Cash Transfer program, recently rebranded as “inflation ayuda (aid)” amid the accelerated rise in prices, will consist of a P1,000 grant over two months, or P500 per month.

Romel Lopez, spokesperson for the DSWD, explained that the program will benefit 9.3 million families that meet certain government criteria.

It is a modified version of the conditional cash transfers that the government has distributed intermittently since 1997.

“This program [was already] done under our Targeted Cash Transfer program in January and this program has always been subject to the availability of funds,” Lopez said in a radio interview.

However, the release of the funds has been delayed despite an assurance from Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno last month that the “inflation ayuda” would be released in days.

Diokno explained that the program was meant for “those affected by inflation,” which has quickened to record levels as compared to averages over the past 10 years.

“We have identified where to get the money and maybe in a few days or in a few weeks we will be able to give it to those affected by inflation,” Diokno told Palace reporters on March 7.

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