DSWD reduces number of city SAP beneficiaries

CEBU, Philippines — Only 122,000 families will receive the cash assistance from the government’s social amelioration program in Cebu City.

Mayor Edgardo Labella announced yesterday that the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the agency tasked by Malacañang to implement the SAP, has reduced the number of beneficiaries from the 260,000 it allocated earlier.

Labella said he already requested for reconsideration from the DSWD-7 and was given the assurance that the matter will be raised before the national office.

"One hundred twenty-two thousand (122,000) is not enough. It's not even 25 percent of the total population of the city," said Labella.

The mayor has already informed the other city officials, including Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Franklyn Ong, regarding the problem.

"Problema kaayo na. I can understand the sentiment of the barangay officials," he said.

Barangay captains will play a vital role in the distribution of the social amelioration cards and in the determination of who should be given the SAP assistance. In a previous interview, Labella announced that barangay officials will be the one to implement the SAP in their respective barangays in close coordination with the Department of Social Welfare Services (DSWS).

The mayor appealed to the barangay officials, ally or not, to be objective and religiously follow the guidelines in the distribution of the assistance to its intended beneficiaries.

As per the DSWD, the target beneficiaries are particularly the senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant and lactating mothers, solo parents, overseas Filipinos in distress, indigent Indigenous People, homeless citizens, and the informal economy workers.

According to the DSWD, the social amelioration measures will help mitigate the socio-economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis.

In a special session held Monday, April 6, the City Council authorized Labella to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with DSWD for the implementation of SAP.

This is to address the present situation brought about by COVID-19 and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented by the city government.  FPL (FREEMAN)