EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 6 releases educational assistance to 613 students amounting to PHP2.3 million at the San Jose de Buenavista municipal hall on Aug. 20, 2022. DSWD Regional Information Officer May Rago–Castillo, during a virtual press conference on Monday (Aug. 22), said their department is now coming up with an agreement with the Department of Interior and Local Government in order to prevent overcrowding of students and their parents in the succeeding release of educational assistance on Aug. 27 to Sept. 24. (PNA file photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The provision of assistance to students in crisis situation being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has benefited 613 students in Antique during the first payout that was conducted in the province on Aug. 20, 2022.
DSWD Regional Information Officer May Rago-Castillo, during a virtual press conference on Monday, said PHP2.3 million was released during the distribution that was swamped by beneficiaries at the municipal hall here.
“The DSWD is also now working an agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) so that last Saturday’s (Aug. 20) experience where there were a lot of students and parents who gathered at the San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Hall will not happen again,” she said.
More than 2,000 students and parents converged at the provincial venue as early as 1 o’clock in the morning to submit their documents and get their assistance.
The big number of students and parents who came for the educational assistance was overwhelming even for social workers who were tasked to assist in the distribution.
The assistance was intended for the school supplies, allowance and other needs of students who are orphans, abandoned, solo parents and others in crisis situation.
Elementary students received PHP1,000; PHP2,000 for those in secondary; PHP3,000 for senior high school; and PHP4,000 for college/vocational level.
Juvelyn Francisco, a 29-year-old solo parent from Barangay San Francisco Norte in the Municipality of Tibiao, said in an interview during the distribution that the educational assistance is a big help for them considering that she has three children who are all in elementary level.
“My children are still in elementary and I am the only one sustaining their needs after my husband died,” she said.
Sherwin Sicon, a student at the Advance Central College (ACC), said the amount he received is a big help to him since he came from a poor family.
“I will no longer be asking for fare and for my other needs for about two months because I have already the educational assistance to be used,” he said.
Sicon commutes everyday from Barangay Asluman, Hamtic to attend his classes as a freshman student taking up Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant at the ACC here. (PNA)
