A TOTAL of 18,248 household beneficiaries under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in Central Visayas have not yet received their cash assistance from the government, as of 12 noon, Sunday, May 24, 2020.
Of the number, 5,359 are from Mandaue City while 12,889 are from Cebu City.
Unpaid qualified household beneficiaries in the region, who were not able to receive their cash assistance within the deadline set for the distribution of the first tranche of the SAP, can still receive their assitance together with the aid distribution for the "left outs."
Left outs, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), are those qualified low-income household beneficiaries but were not included in the list of SAP beneficiaries set to receive cash aid during the first tranche.
Shalaine Lucero, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas assistant regional director, said after they extended several times the deadline of distribution, they will not extend again unless instructed by their central office.
"Kani tanang unpaid sa Cebu City ug sa Mandaue City (first tranche) kay deadline naman today, pinaka-last, isulod nato sa left out para mabayran gihapon sila," she said yesterday.
Since the pay out in Cebu City is until Sunday, she said she hopes that the number of unpaid beneficiaries in Cebu City will still be reduced.
Mandaue City, on one hand, have already stopped their pay out on Saturday.
Lucero said they are now waiting for the City's final report. As of 12 noon Saturday, their coverage is at 90.39 percent.
On Sunday, Luceo said a total of 170,000 household beneficiaries were identified in the region, based on the lists submitted by the LGUs. The lists are still subject for further validation by the DSWD-Central Visayas.
Lucero added they have yet to receive a signed guideline for the cash aid distribution for the left outs from their central office.
Regionwide, a total of 1,020,325 household beneficiaries have already received their P6,000 SAP assistance. This is worth P6,121,950,000 or about 96 percent of the entire P6.3 billion SAP fund allocated for the region.
She said 18 LGUs who have already completed their payout were not able to hit their target allocation due to lesser number of actual qualified beneficiaries in their localities.
Lucero said they are expecting a total of P116.9 million unutilized funds to be returned to the DSWD-Central Visayas.
Of the 132 LGUs in the region, 130 have already finished the distribution. Of the 130, a total of 77 LGUs have already finished liquidating.
Republic Act 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act), which instituted the SAP, aims to mitigate the effects of the crisis brought about by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The first prescribed distribution deadline set by the DILG was on April 30. It was moved to May 7 and was further extended to May 10.
The DILG said those who were not able to beat the May 10 deadline can continue the distribution unless the DSWD demands for the return of the unutilized funds. (WBS)