DUMAGUETE CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed cash assistance to 1,608 beneficiaries here under its Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program.
The payout was held at the Tinago covered court on Tuesday, where the beneficiaries received PHP2,400 each, or a total of PHP3.85 million from the local branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines, which set up desks inside the gym for the convenience of the recipients.
Reggie Locsin, social welfare officer of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Negros Oriental, said the UCT aims to reduce poverty by providing welfare programs without any condition.
She explained that it is a component of the national government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law to be implemented in three years until 2020.
The DSWD expects 10 million household-beneficiaries comprising the population’s poorest to receive the UCT this month.
According to Locsin, the UCT of PHP200 a month or PHP2,400 per year per household will be increased to PHP300 a month or PHP3,600 in one year for the remaining two years of its implementation.
Records show that PHP25.67 billion has been allotted for UCT under the General Appropriations Act to help low-income households cope with the slight inflationary impact of the TRAIN law.
A number of complaints were received during the payout on Tuesday as some beneficiaries claimed their names were not on the list.
Locsin said the names were taken from the Listahanan or survey conducted in 2009 and 2015, where DSWD fielded enumerators for the database survey.
She said those who were not on the list must have been out of their residences when the survey was conducted, while some may have refused the interview, or others had simply ignored them not knowing that it was for the purpose of extending assistance in the future.
Those who were on the list but failed to receive the amount during Tuesday’s payout due to some reasons, will be rescheduled, she pointed out.
Heraclio Barrera of Bajumpandan said, “Wala ko mag-expect nga makadawat apan dako akong pasalamat nga nakahuna-huna si Presidente Duterte niini nga programa alang kanamo nga mga kabus og timawa, dako na kaayo ning tabang bisan kausa sa usa ka tuig (I did not expect to receive the assistance but I thank President Duterte for this program that benefits us, the poor, and this is a big help to us even if we receive it only once a year).” (Juancho Gallarde/PNA)
