TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had distributed so far 59,268 waitlisted beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) across the region.
Out of these number of beneficiaries, 10,317 received the P5,000 cash assistance through direct cash payout while remaining 48,951 through digital payment.
The DSWD had distributed a total of P296.340 million to beneficiaries from 127 local government units.
The waitlisted beneficiaries were from Leyte province with 29,573; 11,057 from Samar;9,362 from Northern Samar; 3, 999 from Eastern Samar; 3, 845 from Southern Leyte; and 1,432 from Biliran province.
Among those who received SAP was the 86-year old Consuelo from Allen, Northern Samar who said that at her old age, it is now difficult for her to work for a living.
“I’m thankful to the DSWD for the SAP assistance. I can now buy milk, vitamins, and for my maintenance,” she said.
Raymundo from Ormoc City was also thankful to the financial assistance from the government through the DSWD.
“This P5,000 cash assistance is a big help to my family, especially now that it is hard to look for job,” he said.
Raymundo said that the will use the SAP assistance to buy food, and medicine for his wife who suffered from stroke and has high blood problem.
Another waitlisted SAP beneficiary from Babatngon town, named Marcelina is also thankful to the assistance given by the agency to her.
Marcelina after receiving the P5,000 immediately went to a store to buy medicine, vitamins, milk, and food.
The SAP beneficiaries comes from qualified poor families who did not received the cash assistance during the first tranche, DSWD Regional Director Marie Angela Gopalan said.
During the first tranche, Gopalan said they released a total of P2.75 billion, serving 550,480 families from the region’s 143 towns and cities. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
