By Charissa Luci-Atienza The beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) can now expect faster, efficient, transparent, and contactless payout of emergency subsidies with the launch of a mobile application. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Developers Connect Philippines launched online the "ReliefAgad" mobile application where the SAP beneficiaries can register and send their information to their local government units (LGUs) and DSWD. "Taking note of all the feedback gathered from the first tranche implementation of SAP, we are streamlining our processes and adopting more effective measures to achieve more efficient, organized and speedy SAP distribution," Undersecretary Danilo Pamonag said during the virtual launch of the "ReliefAgad" mobile app. He said the introduction of the mobile app will improve the way the DSWD gathered beneficiaries' data and will expedite the delivery of cash subsidy to the families in need, especially with the upcoming distribution of the second tranche of SAP. "Delivering this much needed assistance to its beneficiaries in the soonest possible time is the priority of the Department in the SAP implementation," the DSWD official said. During the virtual press briefing after the launch, Pamonag said with the mobile app, the anomalies in the gathering of the beneficiaries' data will be avoided and that the beneficiaries will no longer queue for long hours under the heat of the sun to receive the grant. He thanked the DSWD's development partners, including the Developers Connect Philippines, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for making the initiative possible. During the virtual launch, DSWD Director Andrew Ambubuyog presented how to use of the mobile app system. "Using the filled out SAC (Social Amelioration Card) , using the app, the beneficiaries can scan the bar code then fill up the form using the ReliefAgad app and this will be saved directly to our server, so mas mabilis ang gathering ng data with the digital flow," he said. He said the beneficiaries can register at the ReliefAgad self registration app, www.reliefagad.ph. "Using your phone, click on the browser and type this URL and you will be directed to the app. If you click register, you will go to Step. 1, In Step 1, the app will read the unique barcode which is printed on the lower right corner of the SAC. But in some cases, there are times that it cannot read the barcodes. There is an option to manually encode the SAC number," Ambubuyog said. "In step 2, you have to provide the region, province, city and the unique number in your SAC form. The system will authenticate the number," he said. If authenticated, the head of the family will have to provide the necessary information including the names, gender, birthday, address, IDs, sector and health condition and other benefits given to the head of family or the family itself, he said. Ambubuyog said the head of the family will also provide the personal information of his or her household members. "You will be prompted to enter all information exactly as they appear on the SAP form," he said. "Then there is a survey screen for the mode of payment. The beneficiaries can select cash, Pay Maya, GCash or bank account whichever they prefer. This will be used by the DSWD for the payment," according to Ambubuyog. To authentic the registration, the system will send an SMS message, a six digit for the user to input and finally to submit, he said. "Once authenticated, the registration is set and there is a message that the details of the SAC have been set," he said. He took note that the USAID created flyers for the beneficiaries detailing the step by step process of using the system. He said they created a toll free number (8424-2828) for the DSWD call centers and provided six numbers for cellular phone users. DSWD Director Andrew Ambubuyog, and DICT Assistant Secretary Emmanuel Rey R. Caintic assured the public that personal information of the beneficiaries will be safeguarded. "'Yung ReliefAgad ay na-vet po yan ng ating developers at ng DICT dun po sa meron po tayong mga data privacy na nilagay at sumunod po tayo dun at wala pong data na naiiwan sa ating mobile fone at the same time sa ating server. Dumaan po sa mga testing at nacertify naman po sya ng DICT(The Relief Agad was vetted by our developers and the DICT, we have put in place data privacy safeguards , and no data will be left in our mobile phone and at the time in our server. This underwent testing and it was certified by the DICT) ," Ambubuyog said in a virtual press briefing. "Kami ay sumunod sa alituntunin ng Data Privacy Act so lahat ng pamamaraan na protektahan ang sensitive personal information ng ating kababayan ay sinaalang alang (We have followed the guidelines of the Data Privacy Act so all ways and means to protect the sensitive personal information of our countrymen were considered)," he said. During the "ReliefAgad" launch, Caintic said they will be providing technical assistance to the DSWD to "ensure the system's cybersecurity." "The Relief Agad is a testament to the convergent efforts of this government. We welcome this development and we thank those from the private sector whose passion and commitment to service have made all this possible," he noted. "The Reliefagad is a proof how ICT has been valuable ally amid this pandemic," he said. Caintic explained that for those beneficiaries who have no mobile phones and Internet connection, ReliefAgad uses a combination of crowdsourcing and manual encoding or batch uploading by LGUs. He said the LGUs will be trained to encode the beneficiaries' data. "We have fallback, our system provides the manual encoding by the LGUs...so don't be afraid, no need for a smart phone. The system is comprehensive, it has LGU module, so they can be registered," he said in Pilipino. Meanwhile, Developers Connect Philippines founder Winston Damarillo vowed to continuously support the government's efforts to alleviate the plight of the country's poor during this time of national health emergency. "There is nothing more inspiring not just to serve the government but to help the poor," he said.