An official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) explained that major delays in the distribution of the Covid-19 financial aid was caused by stringent validation process of local government units (LGUs) in determining eligible beneficiaries.
“Given the novelty of this emergency, accompanied by the need for immediate action on the part of the government, the enactment of the social amelioration program is not without challenges,” DSWD Undersecretary Danilo Pamonag said.
Other challenges that caused the delay include mobility constraints to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, as well as the exposure of SAP implementers to health risks.
“The SAP implementers had a difficult time in delivering the subsidy in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas particularly in the island municipalities and barangays, which need sea and air transportation support in order to distribute cash aid.”
“In connection to this, the need for SAP implementers… to observe the 14-day quarantine once exposed to probable and suspected Covid-19 cases caused the postponement of the actual delivery of the subsidy,” he added.
He also noted that the presence of security threats posed by rebels led to the postponement of scheduled distribution of emergency subsidy.
He reported that the DSWD has provided a subsidy to 17.6 million families for the first tranche of SAP, utilizing a total of PHP99.6 billion.
Additionally, around 1,560 out of 1,634 LGUs have attained 100-percent accomplishment in their payouts.
