CEBU, Philippines — The Social Amelioration Program (SAP) will continue until all target beneficiaries have received the assistance due to them, said Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista.
Bautista said the distribution of the second tranche of SAP is still ongoing and is nearing completion with 92 percent of its target beneficiaries already reached nationwide.
The department has partnered with financial service providers (FSP), including PayMaya, to cater to SAP beneficiaries who do not have smartphones.
Each beneficiary gets a text message about the schedule and the FSP where the former can get the aid.
DSWD-7, in a statement, said the sending of text messages is done in batches per day in order to maintain physical distancing.
Also, DSWD and PayMaya provide a list of beneficiaries per barangay for “proper coordination and assistance from the barangay officials.”
“The beneficiary will have seven days from receipt of SMS to go to the Smart Padala agent to claim their cash subsidy. If within the time period they were not able to claim, the beneficiary can coordinate with the DSWD to ask PayMaya to do a rebroadcast of the SMS,” it said
The beneficiary must show the text message to the Smart Padala agent, and present a valid identification card or barangay certification and the social amelioration card form upon claiming the emergency cash subsidy.
As for those without phones or mobile numbers, DSWD will conduct the direct payment.
Direct payment will also be done for those who did not receive a text message and for those who registered in the PayMaya app but failed to match the system.
Other FSP partners like Starpay, RCBC and Unionbank are also conducting respective payouts with their cash-out partners such as M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop, Gemmary Pawnshop and USSC in various towns and cities in Cebu.
The new process aims to aid the immediate disbursement of the second tranche of SAP. — KQD (FREEMAN)