Bohol mulls guarantee

letter for local AICS

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—The use of a guarantee letter, which the provincial government is now proposing for a legislative green-light, can hasten the help that Bohol can give to its constituents in crisis situations, especially those that are in hospitals with bills that accumulate daily.

Thus, says Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Carmelita Tecson, who guested the Kapihan sa PIA which took up the provincial government’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).

Before the proposal, any local government assistance that is over P10,000 for Individuals in Crisis situations, would have to go through the usual bureaucratic process for check release, which would take a month, according to Tecson.

A guarantee letter solves the time element, because the assistance, although not in cash but a guarantee note, transfers the responsibility of payment from the individual patient to the provincial government.

A guarantee letter is a document that encompasses the guarantee that the government would be paying for the remaining obligations that the individual in crisis situation incurred for the services rendered on to him, Tecson defined.

Through Executive Order No. 26, Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado affirmed the continued implementation of the provincial government’s program, parallel to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) AICS, for individuals in crisis situations.

But in the case of Bohol, which has limited resources especially earmarked for the aid to Boholanos in urgent needs, its AICS has to be availed only once in three or six months.

Moreover, it has to implement schemes that would stop abuse of such assistance, as giving cash could spur other issues including a temptation to spend the money for other things.

Set as a social protection measure which helps individuals and communities attain inclusive growth and social equity for disadvantaged individuals and families in need, the AICS especially for medical assistance for medicines, laboratory fees and doctor’s professional fees from the minimum of P1,000 to a maximum of P10,000, in a form of out-tight cash or check.

The kind of assistance can be food (P1K, to maximum of P3K), transportation for outside Bohol (actual cost of transportation expenses), medical [hospitalization (1K to P75K), medicines (P1K to P10K), laboratory fees (P1K –P10K), professional fees (P1K to P10K)], burial [funeral expenses (P3K to P10K), transfer of cadaver (P3K to P10K), (casualties of disaster P10K), expenses for customary services (P3K to P5K)], educational [(elementary P1K to P3K0), Secondary P1,500 to P5K) and College or senior highschool (P2K to P5K)] and supportive assistance (P1K to P10K).

For amounts which the government hands to victims in crisis situations of P10K and below, these can be approved by the OPSWD and the out-right cash can be released within the day, Tecson said.

However, amounts that are over P10,000 would have to be paid in check and the governor or his representative signing.

And because this goes through the usual process, approval of the assistance in the form of a check, can take a month, according to Tecson.

The introduction of the guarantee letter cuts off that, because when the amount exceeds P10,000, the governor or his representative can have the help released within the day, although, for an authority to implement this, a Sangguniang Panlalawigan authority would be proper.

To this, a guarantee letter, cuts off that time and cuts the possibility of accumulating further expenses for the patient’s extended stay in the facility.

With this, Tecson airs the social welfare office’s concern: that of implementing as system that lets the individual in crisis withstand his adversities and improve their quality of life in the community. (PIABohol)