DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo said they will no longer accept walk-in applicants in the distribution of financial aid for indigent students to avoid a repeat of the crowding that happened last Saturday during the first day of the payout.
Tulfo said those who wish to avail themselves of the cash aid would have to register through https://bit.ly/3dB9mSg or email DSWD at ciu.co@dswd.gov.ph.
He said applicants will receive an advisory through text message on when and where their payout would be, most likely in their respective localities.
The DSWD and the Department of the Interior and Local Government signed a memorandum of agreement on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, for the implementation and distribution of the agency’s educational assistance.
This aims to make the educational aid payout orderly through the help of the local government unit (LGU).
Under the program, indigent elementary school students will be given P1,000; high school students, P2,000; senior high school students, P3,000; and college or vocational students, P4,000.
Meanwhile, Tulfo said beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who were given the educational aid on Saturday should return the money since they are no longer eligible for the educational assistance program.
Should they refuse to do so, the DSWD will deduct the amount from their monthly 4Ps cash aid.
Tulfo said P154 million has so far been distributed to 53,000 students under the program.
He said they expect a total of 375,000 to 400,000 indigent students to benefit from the one-time financial aid.
The aid was distributed ahead of the August 22 opening of basic education classes in the country.
Central Visayas
In Central Visayas, the DSWD 7 said that since August 20, the regional office had released P9.7 million to 4,551 indigent students in crisis situations living in the region.
Of the number, 852 are college students, 741 are senior high school students, 1,340 are high school students and 1,688 are elementary school students.
Shalaine Marie Lucero, DSWD 7 acting director, said in Metro Cebu, they have conducted payouts in several payout sites in Metro Cebu, including the Barangay Guadalupe gym that caters to seven barangays in the south district of Cebu City, namely Calamba, Guadalupe, Labangon, Punta Princesa, Quiot, Pardo and Tisa; T. Padilla Gym for the north district of Cebu City covering the barangays of T. Padilla, Day-as, Mabolo, Lorega, Hipodromo, Carreta and Tejero; Mandaue City Hall covering the barangays of Guizo, Mantuyong, Centro, Cambaro, Alang-alang and Ibabao-Estancia; and Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City covering beneficiaries from barangays Gun-ob, Looc, Pajo and Poblacion.
Aside from Cebu, the field office also distributed educational assistance in the provinces of Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor through its Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) offices and Crisis Intervention Section in Cebu City.
Lucero thanked LGUs, local police and barangay officials who ensured the security and safety of all beneficiaries and DSWD staff present during the payouts.
The DSWD will conduct payouts every Saturday until September 24, 2022.
The educational assistance is under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), which provides aid to students in crisis to pay for their school fees, school supplies, projects, other fees, and allowance.
Those considered students in a crisis situation are any of the following: breadwinner, working student, orphan/abandoned and living with relatives, child of a single parent, a child whose parents are unemployed, child of an overseas Filipino worker, a victim of child abuse, having a parent with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, and victim of calamity or disaster.
Qualified student-beneficiaries should bring their registration or enrollment certificate, a valid ID of their parent or guardian, and a valid ID of the college or vocational education student who will receive the assistance.
Mandaue City
In Mandaue City, 582 students received the cash aid last Saturday, of whom 310 were elementary school students, 60 were high school students, 125 senior high students, and 87 college and vocational students.
The beneficiaries came from Barangays Guizo, Mantuyong, Centro, Cambaro, Alang-Alang, and Ibabao-Estancia.
The City Social Welfare and Services provided free snacks and water to the beneficiaries during the distribution at the Mandaue City Hall Saturday. (withJKV, PR, HIC)