130K Albayanos receive SAP second tranche cash aid from DSWD

LEGAZPI CITY --- A total of 130,384 Albayanos have received the second tranche of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash assistance, a regional social welfare official said on Monday, Aug. 3.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Bicol spokesperson Marygizelle Mesa, in an interview, said the beneficiaries were 70,719 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) members and 59,665 non-4Ps members.

The distribution of the financial aid started last week and continues as of press time. Some115,746 more households in Albay can expect to receive the benefit, she said.

Mesa said the DSWD has released P669.5 million for the second tranche of SAP, with each household-beneficiary receiving P5,000.

“For the waitlisted, we have 22,625 households," regionwide, she said.

In Bicol region, only Albay has so far qualified for the second tranche as it is the only province that remained under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Mesa said the agency continues to validate the list of beneficiaries as there were duplications reported.

Ranelle Sertan, DSWD field officer, said Marjorie Nocos, a 44-year-old SAP beneficiary from Barangay Minto, Guinobatan, Albay, is very thankful for the cash assistance she received from the government. Nocos, a solo parent, sells vegetables to be able to feed her four children.

"According to Nocos, one of the problems she came across with during the community quarantine was the lack of transportation as she needed a vehicle to haul her vegetables to the market," Sertan said.

“Upang malampasan ito, kailangan ko gumising ng maaga at maglakad galing sa bahay papunta sa sentro para magtinda. Kailangan mo magtiyaga para makabenta (To resolve the problem, I wake up early and walk from home to downtown Guinobatan to sell my vegetables. I needed to persevere in order to have an income)," Nocos was quoted as saying.

She said that when she received the first tranche of SAP, she used the assistance as capital for her vegetable business.

“Yung nakuha ko naman na ayuda sa ikalawang tranche, idadagdag ko ulit bilang puhunan dahil magsisimula na ang klase ng aking mga anak (The subsidy I have received for the second tranche will be added to my capital that will eventually be used for my children’s education)," she added. Nocos thanked DSWD for the assistance, saying it has greatly helped her family. (PNA)