GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The city government has allocated an initial PHP32 million for the rollout of its enhanced social services and assistance program for local residents, especially the poor.
This, as the local government formally launched on Wednesday its expanded assistance program dubbed Auxiliaries and Medical Program for Individuals and Needy Generals (AMPING).
“Amping” is a Visayan term for care, safeguard or precaution.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said the program mainly aims to deliver appropriate and “holistic” assistance to anyone needing help from the local government, especially in terms of social services.
He said it specifically caters to financial assistance for hospitalization, medicine and burial needs of indigent residents.
Residents may avail of up to PHP10,000 in assistance, depending on the evaluation of their cases by the assigned local government personnel, he added.
The mayor said they established a separate office for the program at the ground floor of the city hall building to facilitate the efficient processing of requests for assistance.
During its launching, the local government signed memorandums of agreement with private hospitals and other stakeholders to facilitate its smooth implementation.
“We have many needy residents, we cannot deny that. So we launched AMPING because we want to address that problem,” Rivera said.
He said the local government is determined to sustain and eventually institutionalize the program despite its limited funds.
Rivera said they have set an initial budget of PHP32 million annually for the implementation of AMPING.
But he said the city government may provide additional funds later on to ensure that more people benefit from the program. (Allen Estabillo/PNA)
