SAP DISTRIBUTION. Photo shows distribution of the first tranche of government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) assistance. Malacañang said on Tuesday (June 9, 2020) said distribution of the SAP’s second tranche through automated disbursement would be completed within two days. (PNA file photo)
MANILA – It would only take two days for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to give the second tranche of financial aid to poor families through automated disbursement, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque gave the assurance, as he reiterated that the second tranche of emergency subsidies under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) will proceed even after Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act expires on June 25, 2020.
Roque said he had received assurance from DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista that once his office starts the electronic transfer of cash aid for low-income households by next week, it would be completed within two days.
“Sabi nga niya (Bautista) sa akin, by next week, ready na silang mag-distribute (He told me that by next week, they are ready to distribute [the financial assistance]. It will take them two days to distribute electronically,” he said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4.
On Saturday, the DSWD said it will base its SAP guidelines on the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill which is expected to be passed by Congress to allow the government to further boost its efforts to fight Covid-19.
The remaining PHP100 billion of the PHP200-billion SAP will be given to 17 million poor families who are living in areas that were placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ in May.
Around 12 million of the 17 million beneficiaries of the second tranche of cash aid also benefitted from the implementation of the first phase of SAP, while the remaining 5 million are new recipients.
SAP recipients receive emergency subsidies ranging PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 to help them cope with the crisis brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
On May 14, the DSWD launched the web application “ReliefAgad” to hasten the distribution of cash aid to low-income Filipino families affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
ReliefAgad is a quick-relief system that would allow the DSWD to have an easier access to the details of SAP beneficiaries and distribute the financial aid through an electronic payment using their smartphones.
Malacañang on Monday said the distribution of cash aid to poor families will not be affected even if the validity of RA 11469 expires on June 25.
Roque reiterated that the military would help in the distribution of cash aid to families who opt to personally receive the SAP assistance.
“The rest [will be done] with the assistance of the armed forces. So tuloy na tuloy na po iyan (So it will push through),” he said.
Stimulus package
Meantime, Roque said the government can ask for a supplemental budget to implement its proposed stimulus package to counter the country’s economic weakness during the pandemic.
Roque issued the statement a day after Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III warned that various economic stimulus measures proposed by Congress are “fiscally unsustainable.”
“So sinisiguro lang ng Department of Finance na (Perhaps, the Department of Finance merely wants that) any stimulus package that will become law can be funded from existing sources or at least ma-identify kung saan manggagaling yung pondo (any fund that will be tapped can be identified),” he said.
On Monday, Dominguez said the government cannot afford to implement the PHP1.3-trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy of the Philippines or the proposed ARISE Philippines Act that was approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading last week.
Dominguez said the funding limit creates the need for policy makers to come up with a realistic economic recovery program that is fiscally sustainable amid the health crisis in the country. (PNA)
