Gov’t sets emergency aid

to covid-affected families

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, April 4 (PIA) -- With the enactment of the Bayanihan To Heal As One into law which has provided extra powers to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, the government is now poised to provide an Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) to an estimated 18 million low-income families severely affected by the travel and work restrictions to help contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

"The EMP is a package of social protection programs that help mitigate the adverse effects of the declaration to the most vulnerable sectors of the Philippine Society," said Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Bohol Team leader Rhea Marie Tubongbanua during the recent Kapihan sa PIA.

The package includes cash, non-cash itemsm and services from the government’s social amelioration program that mitigate the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 health crisis, she added during the radio forum that has since opted to stay in studio in line with the social distancing mandate. 

NOT FOR EVERYONE. Bohol SWAD teamleader Rhea Marie Tubongbanua said that even if one belongs to the disadvantaged sector but is well above the rest, one may not get the financial subsidy, although they may still tap other government agencies giving out non-cash grants. (PIABohol)  

"With the program, beneficiaries from vulnerable sectors can get between P8,000 to P5,0000 for April and May, based on the prevailing regional minimum wage rates, so families who may have workers disrupted from work due to the quarantine can still have the money to buy food, medicines, and toiletries," she said.    

Integral in the implementation of the ESP is the Social Amelioration Card, a form distributed to residents to be filled out by the head of family that captures the family profile which would be the mechanism for affected families to access the social amelioration program, she added.

Aside from the cash aid are food and non-food items including hygiene kits and an augmentation of food packs after the LGUs have put up their disaster response initiatives.

DSWD also provides integrated services to individuals in crisis situations to help them recover, and the provision of sustainable livelihood programs for the poor and vulnerable marginalized families to ease their deplorable conditions.

ESP also includes livelihood assistance grants given to SLP beneficiaries to help them recover from economic losses incurred during the severe economic disruption caused by the highly infectious disease.

ESP targets families who belong to the poor and informal sector who are at risk of losing their income during the quarantine period. 

Eligible for the said program are households who may have at least a member belonging to the vulnerable and disadvantage sector like senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant or lactating mother, solo parents, distressed Overseas Filipino Workers who were banned from traveling outside the country because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and indigenous peoples. 

Also eligible to get the assistance are members of the underprivileged sector and homeless individuals, informal economy workers like the independent self-employed small scale producers and distributor of goods like directly hired or occasional workers (laundry), subcontracted workers, homeworkers like weavers, house helpers, drivers of vehicles owned by another person, micro entrepreneurs, sari-sari store operators with assets less than P100,000, family enterprise owners, and below minimum wage earners especially when he is sole income-earner.      

ESP also funds farmers, fisherfolks, farm workers especially those who income fall below the poverty line, no-work-no-pay workers, and stranded workers who could not go home due to the community quarantine.

Tubongbanua, however, explained that since the P20-B fund for the 18 million workers would not be sufficient for all of two months, the LGUS are tasked to identify beneficiaries through the punong barangays in a barangay saturation approach and prioritize poorer barangays.

By this, the DSWD will issue the Social Amelioration Cards to identified beneficiaries as the cards will serve as the basis of cash transfers to avoid duplication of beneficiaries. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

NOT FOR EVERYONE. Bohol SWAD teamleader Rhea Marie Tubongbanua said that even if one belongs to the disadvantaged sector but is well above the rest, one may not get the financial subsidy, although they may still tap other government agencies giving out non-cash grants. (PIABohol) 

STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE. Kapihan sa PIA discussing the details of the Bayanihan to Heal As One Law's Emergency Subsidy Program where a team from DSWD Bohol SWAD led by team leader Rhea Marie Tubongbanua took turns clarifying issues and concerns. (PIABohol)