ILOILO – As of May 11, only 11 local government units (LGUs) in this province were able to finish releasing the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) cash assistance to beneficiaries.
Iloilo has 43 LGUs.
The 11 LGUs were Anilao, Batad, Bingawan, Concepcion, Maasin, Mina, New Lucena, San Enrique, San Miguel, San Rafael, and Sara, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6,
Still distributing the assistance – P6,000 to each household beneficiary – were the LGUs of Tubungan, Tigbauan, Ajuy, Alimodian, Badiangan, Balasan, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, Cabatuan, Calinog, Lambunao, Carles, Dumangas, Estancia, Guimbal, Igbaras, Dingle, Dueñas, Passi City, Leon, Miag-ao, Oton, Janiuay, Leganes, Lemery, Pavia, Pototan, San Dionisio, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, and Zarraga.
The deadline was May 10.
In Aklan province which has 17 municipalities, 12 have yet to complete the SAP cash distribution. These were Altavas, Balete, Banga, Kalibo, Libacao, Makato, Malay, Malinao, Nabas, New Washington, Numancia and, Tangalan.
In Antique which has 18 municipalities, only two LGUs were yet to complete the distribution – Caluya and Sibalom.
In Capiz which has 16 municipalities and one city (Roxas), two LGUs hope to complete the distribution soon – Dumalag and Roxas City.
In Negros Occidental which has 19 municipalities, 12 component cities and one independent city (Bacolod), 19 LGUs were yet to finish distributing the SAP cash assistance. These were Bacolod City, Bago City, Cadiz City, Calatrava, Escalante City, Himamaylan City, Hinigaran, Ilog, Isabela, Kabankalan, Manapla, Moises Padilla, Victorias City, Pontevedra, Sagay City, San Carlos City, San Enrique, Silay City, and Toboso.
According to DSWD-6 director Evelyn Macapobre, as of May 11 960,519 out of 1,153,784 target beneficiaries already received their cash assistance reaching P5,763,114,000.
Overall in the region also as of May 11, only 65 out of 133 LGUs were able to complete the distribution.
Macapobre said LGUs must complete the payout.
The May 10 deadline was already the second extension deadline. The original deadline was April 30. The first deadline extension was May 7.
Under the guidelines, only low-income households with members in any of the following sectors should receive the cash assistance:
* senior citizens
* persons with disability
* pregnant women
* lactating mothers
* solo parents
* overseas Filipino workers in distress
* informal workers
* occasional workers like househelpers
* drivers of pedicabs, tricycles, taxis, public utility buses, and public utility jeepneys
* micro-entrepreneurs
* sub-minimum wage earners
* farmers, fishermen (provided they are not recipients of assistance from the Department of Agriculture)
* workers in the private sector observing “no work, no pay” (provided they have not availed themselves of the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program of the Department of Labor and Employment)./PN
