Second tranche of SAP this week — DSWD
Published Jun 2, 2020 12:00 am
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is eyeing to start the distribution of the second tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash subsidies this week.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista disclosed that the agency has guidelines on the second phase implementation of SAP with identified areas who will benefit from the second wave of subsidies.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN) "Ninanais ng DSWD na ipahatid ang second tranche ng SAP sa lalong madaling panahon dahil batid ng ahensya ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan na apektado ng krisis. Ninanais natin na masimulan ang pamamahagi ng ayuda sa linggong ito," he said in a virtual press briefing. (The DSWD aims to distribute the second tranche of SAP as soon as possible because the agency recognizes the needs of our countrymen affected by the crisis. We want to start distributing the cash aid this week.) But, he stressed the need for the local government units (LGUs) to immediately submit their liquidation reports "for the DSWD to jumpstart the validation process, which is crucial for the identification of the eligible SAP benefiaciaries." Bautista disclosed that more than P99.7 billion worth of SAP subsidies for the first tranche have been distributed to over 17.6 million beneficiaries. He said based on the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force, among the areas set to receive the second tranche are Metro Manila, Central Luzon except Aurora, Calabarzon, Benguet, Pangasinan, Iloilo province, Cebu province, Bacolod City, and Davao City, as well as Albay province and Zamboanga City. He explained that the identification of the beneficiaries for the second tranche was based on the Executive Order No. 112, signed by President Duterte on April 30, and the memorandum issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on May 22. Even as he maintained that the five million "left-out or waitlisted" beneficiaries will be prioritized in the second tranche, Bautista appealed to the LGUs to immediately submit the list of left-out beneficiaries certified by the local chief executives. He noted that most of the lists submitted by the LGUs to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have yet to be certified by the local chief executives. "Sa kadahilanang ito, ang DSWD ay nakikiusap sa mga lokal na pamahalaan na agarang isumite ang sertipikadong listahan ng ‘waitlisted’," he said. He stressed that the master list of waitlisted beneficiaries which contain the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) identification number must be signed and certified by the City or Municipal or Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer and the local chief executives or mayors. "Mahalaga ang sertipikasyon na nagsasaad na ang mga pangalan sa isinumiteng listahan ay nasuri at kwalipikado o karapat-dapat batay sa mga umiiral na panuntunan," Bautista said. (The certification is important to ensure that the names on the lists have been validated and are eligible based on the current guidelines.) He said the list of additional SAP beneficiaries and the encoded SAC forms that will be submitted to the DSWD Field Offices will undergo regional and inter-regional deduplication to ensure the beneficiaries are eligible and have not benefited from any assistance package extended by other government agencies. Bautista said to fast track the implementation of the validation process, he asked the LGUs to publicly disclose their submitted list of waitlisted beneficiaries. He said the public is being encouraged to scrutinize the list of the waitlisted beneficiaries for them to immediately identify the eligible beneficiaries. Bautista assured the public that for the second tranche of SAP, there will be an efficient and faster distribution following the May 14 launch of the ReliefAgad mobile application. He said they aim to distribute the second tranche of cash subsidies within this month, even as he urged the beneficiaries to register at www.reliefagad.ph using a smartphone. In a statement, the DSWD disclosed that over 2 million beneficiaries have registered at the platform, which was developed by the Developers Connect Philippines Community of Technology Partners (DEVCON-DCTx). The agency is seeking to register 11.5 million more beneficiaries from 11 regions for the digital payment of the second wave of the cash subsidies. "Since the launch of ReliefAgad app in a virtual presser last May 14, the platform has accumulated over 2 million registrations from all 17 regions nationwide. Despite conducting pilot runs in NCR, regions nationwide facilitated encoding of SAC (Social Amelioration Card forms) through ReliefAgad app," it said in a statement. The platform enables the DSWD to expedite capturing social amelioration card (SAC) details, and interface with any electronic payment systems, it noted. Of the 2 million ReliefAgad registrants, 1,094,332 came from Region IV-A – CALABARZON, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR)with 789,719, and Region III (Central Luzon) with 103,413. "Despite reaching 2 million registrations, the challenge lies in reaching the rest of the second tranche beneficiaries coming from 11 identified areas: NCR, Region III (except Aurora province), Region IV-A, Benguet province, Pangasinan, Iloilo province, Cebu province, Bacolod City, Davao City, Albay province, and Zamboanga City, as well as the left out families nationwide," the DSWD said. It noted that the 13.5 million beneficiaries "are targeted to come from 8.5 million out of the 18 million families who received the first tranche from the identified 11 areas, and the 5 million families who are waitlisted or left out." According to the DSWD, the 3.5 million of the 5 million waitlisted or left-out beneficiaries from the identified 11 areas will receive subsidy equivalent to two months. The DSWD said the DEVCON which developed ReliefAgad and the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) "are continuously providing technical support to drive more beneficiaries to register through ReliefAgad." “We are happy to assist the DSWD in this momentous task. Through ReliefAgad, beneficiaries don’t have to leave their homes to register and to receive their aid. Frontliners also don’t need to go house to house,” DEVCON Founder and Talino Venture Labs Chief Executive Officer Winston Damarillo said. In a separate virtual presser, he said the system can absorb some 750,000 registrants in a day. "Mabilis lang ang magrehistro, three to four minutes lang po.Kung nakapagrehistro kayo dati manually, nirerekomenda na magrehistro po kayo digitally para mapabilis ang balidasyon," Damarillo said. (It is quick to register, it will take only three to four minutes. If you already registered before manually, we recommend that you register digitally to fast track the validation.) He said that the ReliefAgad system is now ready for "mass consumption and registration. In the same briefing, DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao said aside from G-Cash, they also forged partnership with the PayMaya Philippines for faster and contactless distribution of the second tranche of subsidies. In an e-mailed statement, the PayMaya confirmed that it has partnered with the DSWD for its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) fund and most recently, as an option with ReliefAgad. PayMaya Founder and CEO Orlando Vea said they have been working with government agencies to allow beneficiaries to receive financial assistance directly to their PayMaya accounts. "Mobile wallets like PayMaya are playing a critical role in enabling Filipinos to gain access to much-needed financial aid from government agencies and local government units. We support DSWD and the rest of the government’s efforts to digitize citizen disbursements,” he said. According to PayMaya, it also partnered with the Social Security System (SSS) for the Small Business Wage Subsidy program (SBWS), as well as the local governments of Manila, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Caloocan, and Quezon City.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN) "Ninanais ng DSWD na ipahatid ang second tranche ng SAP sa lalong madaling panahon dahil batid ng ahensya ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan na apektado ng krisis. Ninanais natin na masimulan ang pamamahagi ng ayuda sa linggong ito," he said in a virtual press briefing. (The DSWD aims to distribute the second tranche of SAP as soon as possible because the agency recognizes the needs of our countrymen affected by the crisis. We want to start distributing the cash aid this week.) But, he stressed the need for the local government units (LGUs) to immediately submit their liquidation reports "for the DSWD to jumpstart the validation process, which is crucial for the identification of the eligible SAP benefiaciaries." Bautista disclosed that more than P99.7 billion worth of SAP subsidies for the first tranche have been distributed to over 17.6 million beneficiaries. He said based on the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force, among the areas set to receive the second tranche are Metro Manila, Central Luzon except Aurora, Calabarzon, Benguet, Pangasinan, Iloilo province, Cebu province, Bacolod City, and Davao City, as well as Albay province and Zamboanga City. He explained that the identification of the beneficiaries for the second tranche was based on the Executive Order No. 112, signed by President Duterte on April 30, and the memorandum issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on May 22. Even as he maintained that the five million "left-out or waitlisted" beneficiaries will be prioritized in the second tranche, Bautista appealed to the LGUs to immediately submit the list of left-out beneficiaries certified by the local chief executives. He noted that most of the lists submitted by the LGUs to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have yet to be certified by the local chief executives. "Sa kadahilanang ito, ang DSWD ay nakikiusap sa mga lokal na pamahalaan na agarang isumite ang sertipikadong listahan ng ‘waitlisted’," he said. He stressed that the master list of waitlisted beneficiaries which contain the Social Amelioration Card (SAC) identification number must be signed and certified by the City or Municipal or Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer and the local chief executives or mayors. "Mahalaga ang sertipikasyon na nagsasaad na ang mga pangalan sa isinumiteng listahan ay nasuri at kwalipikado o karapat-dapat batay sa mga umiiral na panuntunan," Bautista said. (The certification is important to ensure that the names on the lists have been validated and are eligible based on the current guidelines.) He said the list of additional SAP beneficiaries and the encoded SAC forms that will be submitted to the DSWD Field Offices will undergo regional and inter-regional deduplication to ensure the beneficiaries are eligible and have not benefited from any assistance package extended by other government agencies. Bautista said to fast track the implementation of the validation process, he asked the LGUs to publicly disclose their submitted list of waitlisted beneficiaries. He said the public is being encouraged to scrutinize the list of the waitlisted beneficiaries for them to immediately identify the eligible beneficiaries. Bautista assured the public that for the second tranche of SAP, there will be an efficient and faster distribution following the May 14 launch of the ReliefAgad mobile application. He said they aim to distribute the second tranche of cash subsidies within this month, even as he urged the beneficiaries to register at www.reliefagad.ph using a smartphone. In a statement, the DSWD disclosed that over 2 million beneficiaries have registered at the platform, which was developed by the Developers Connect Philippines Community of Technology Partners (DEVCON-DCTx). The agency is seeking to register 11.5 million more beneficiaries from 11 regions for the digital payment of the second wave of the cash subsidies. "Since the launch of ReliefAgad app in a virtual presser last May 14, the platform has accumulated over 2 million registrations from all 17 regions nationwide. Despite conducting pilot runs in NCR, regions nationwide facilitated encoding of SAC (Social Amelioration Card forms) through ReliefAgad app," it said in a statement. The platform enables the DSWD to expedite capturing social amelioration card (SAC) details, and interface with any electronic payment systems, it noted. Of the 2 million ReliefAgad registrants, 1,094,332 came from Region IV-A – CALABARZON, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR)with 789,719, and Region III (Central Luzon) with 103,413. "Despite reaching 2 million registrations, the challenge lies in reaching the rest of the second tranche beneficiaries coming from 11 identified areas: NCR, Region III (except Aurora province), Region IV-A, Benguet province, Pangasinan, Iloilo province, Cebu province, Bacolod City, Davao City, Albay province, and Zamboanga City, as well as the left out families nationwide," the DSWD said. It noted that the 13.5 million beneficiaries "are targeted to come from 8.5 million out of the 18 million families who received the first tranche from the identified 11 areas, and the 5 million families who are waitlisted or left out." According to the DSWD, the 3.5 million of the 5 million waitlisted or left-out beneficiaries from the identified 11 areas will receive subsidy equivalent to two months. The DSWD said the DEVCON which developed ReliefAgad and the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) "are continuously providing technical support to drive more beneficiaries to register through ReliefAgad." “We are happy to assist the DSWD in this momentous task. Through ReliefAgad, beneficiaries don’t have to leave their homes to register and to receive their aid. Frontliners also don’t need to go house to house,” DEVCON Founder and Talino Venture Labs Chief Executive Officer Winston Damarillo said. In a separate virtual presser, he said the system can absorb some 750,000 registrants in a day. "Mabilis lang ang magrehistro, three to four minutes lang po.Kung nakapagrehistro kayo dati manually, nirerekomenda na magrehistro po kayo digitally para mapabilis ang balidasyon," Damarillo said. (It is quick to register, it will take only three to four minutes. If you already registered before manually, we recommend that you register digitally to fast track the validation.) He said that the ReliefAgad system is now ready for "mass consumption and registration. In the same briefing, DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao said aside from G-Cash, they also forged partnership with the PayMaya Philippines for faster and contactless distribution of the second tranche of subsidies. In an e-mailed statement, the PayMaya confirmed that it has partnered with the DSWD for its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) fund and most recently, as an option with ReliefAgad. PayMaya Founder and CEO Orlando Vea said they have been working with government agencies to allow beneficiaries to receive financial assistance directly to their PayMaya accounts. "Mobile wallets like PayMaya are playing a critical role in enabling Filipinos to gain access to much-needed financial aid from government agencies and local government units. We support DSWD and the rest of the government’s efforts to digitize citizen disbursements,” he said. According to PayMaya, it also partnered with the Social Security System (SSS) for the Small Business Wage Subsidy program (SBWS), as well as the local governments of Manila, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Caloocan, and Quezon City.