SOCIAL AMELIORATION. Department of Social Welfare and Development-Region 9 Director Fatima Caminan (seated, right) hands over on Tuesday (April 7, 2020) to Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar the amount of PHP582.59 million representing the first tranche (month of April) of the Social Amelioration Program of the national government amid the Covid-19 crisis. The beneficiaries are identified by local government units. (Photo courtesy of City Hall Public Information Office)
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said at least 721,841 families will benefit from the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in Region 9 amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
Under the program, the government will provide an emergency subsidy of PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 a month for two months to poor families based on Section 4(c) of the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act" signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 24, 2020.
Ivan Eric Salvador, DSWD regional information officer, said Wednesday that the SAP will be distributed to the identified beneficiaries through the local government units (LGUs).
“We are already in close coordination with our partner LGUs, through our local social and welfare offices in the region. The agency is doing its best to facilitate efficient implementation of the program to reach its rightful beneficiaries,” Salvador said.
Salvador said that a total of 116,518 of the 721,841 beneficiaries are from this city while the rest are as follows: Isabela City, 25,552; Zamboanga del Norte, 229,036; Zamboanga del Sur, 243,119; and, Zamboanga Sibugay, 107,616.
Meanwhile, DSWD Regional Director Fatima Caminan has turned over Tuesday to Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar the total amount of PHP582.59 million as part of the first tranche (month of April) of the SAP.
The city government has already started the production of forms to be filled up by the 116,518 family-beneficiaries of the city. (PNA)
