THE Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) in Bacolod City temporarily suspended Monday, July 27, the "digital payout" of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) grant for the "left-out" families or those who were not able to avail themselves of the first tranche of SAP in May.
Pacita Tero, head of DSSD, said the "digital payout" was temporarily suspended because some of its personnel were exposed to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients.
"Supposedly, the digital payout for the left-out families was scheduled on July 27, but because of the incident it was temporarily suspended," she said.
She added that 10 of its personnel and another 10 personnel from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Western Visayas already underwent swab test and are now in home quarantine.
Tero noted that one of its personnel was a wife of one of the Covid-19 patients.
The DSSD will wait for the release of the swab test result of its personnel and once it will turn negative, they will resume the digital payout in various barangays.
"All of our workers, who were involved in SAP distribution, were exposed to possible Covid-19 cases in various barangays," Tero said.
Bacolod City has a total of 15, 046 left-out families and they will claim their cash assistance through the accredited payout centers like M Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier, and Western Union.
Tero said the payout centers will also be assisted by the social workers to control its crowd and they will provide specific time to the beneficiaries to claim their cash assistance.
The total amount for the left out families is P180.5 million. Each of these families will receive a lump sum of P12,000, to cover the first P6,000 that they missed to receive previously and the remaining P6,000 for the second tranche of SAP.
Meanwhile, Tero said they are also waiting for the final schedule for the second batch of SAP distribution in the city including those who registered in reliefagad.ph application.