THE Department of Social Welfare and Development Davao Region (DSWD-Davao) has allocated an additional P26 million for educational assistance under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, which is scheduled to end on September 24, 2022.
“P74 million po ang budget so utilized na po lahat from the Central Office but may augmentation funds from the Regional Office (We have already fully utilized the P74 million budget allocated to us by the Central Office but we also have funds from the regional office to augment it). Expected amount natin is over P100 million for Region 11 (Davao Region) (We expect our total funds to be over P100 million for Region 11),” Atty. Vanessa Goc-ong said in a text message to SunStar Davao on September 22, 2002.
Goc-ong said they already disbursed a total amount of around P80,907,000 to a total of 35,933 beneficiaries in the region as of September 17, 2022.
She said the Regional Office in Davao City have served 11,165 beneficiaries with a total disbursement of P26,598,000; Davao del Norte has 5,254 beneficiaries with the disbursed amount of P11,613,000; Davao de Oro with 5,270 beneficiaries and disbursement of P12,187,000.
Davao Oriental has 4,701 who have received educational assistance worth P10,475,000; Davao del Sur has 5,418 beneficiaries and a total disbursed amount of P 10,915,000; and Davao Occidental with 4,125 beneficiaries and a total disbursed amount of P 9,119,000.
Goc-ong confirmed that the last day of disbursement is on Saturday, September 24.
Meanwhile, Goc-ong said some of the applications have been rejected.
“Common reasons for rejection are incomplete documentary requirements and meron po hindi qualified based sa criteria (and there are also applied who are not qualified based on the given criteria),” Goc-ong said.
She said the evaluation is still ongoing so that more students will be able to receive financial assistance.
“For those who cannot avail, per directive from Central Office ipa-intindi lang na limited budget lang po (we need to let them understand that we only have a limited budget),” Goc-ong said. KSD