DSWD to give P500 monthly ayuda for poor families by end-June
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Saturday it will begin distributing the monthly financial aid of P500 for poor households before President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends on June 30.
"Basta before the month ends... Ang mga beneficiaries natin ay 'yung bottom 50% of the population, kinabibilangan po ng approximately 12.4 million households. Kabilang diyan 'yung mga 4P's beneficiaries, mga social pension beneficiaries, [at] 'yung mga tumanggap din po ng unconditional cash transfer [from] 2018 to 2020," DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in an interview on Dobol B TV on Saturday.
("We will start it before the month ends...The beneficiaries belong to the bottom 50% of the population, around 12.4 million households. Among those are our 4P's beneficiaries, social pension beneficiaries and those who received unconditional cash transfers from 2018 to 2020.")
Eligible households will receive P500 per month for the next six months.
Dumlao said households can claim the financial aid through cash cards. Qualified beneficiaries who do not have cash cards can find their names on a list to be released by the government which will also contain alternate payment modes where they can receive the subsidies, she added.
In March, President Duterte ordered the roll-out of the P500-per-month subsidy to help poor families cope with the fuel price hikes which have been affecting the country since the start of the year due to developments in the global market, including large crude oil exporter Russia's war on Ukraine.
The Finance department earlier proposed that the cash aid should be P200 per household, drawing criticism from senators in March who lamented that the amount was a pittance. — Angelica Y. Yang
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