SAN ANTONIO, Nueva Ecija – More than 53 percent of the total P98.8-million worth of funds for the 2nd tranche of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program were already distributed to some 8,148 beneficiaries by three remittance centers in this town as of Sept. 3 or Thursday, it was learned yesterday.
DSWD municipal officer Chiarity Mae Baynosa said the total beneficiaries for the payout of the 2nd tranche of the government’s cash subsidy program in this town has reached 15,207 individuals, including 2,339 beneficiaries on the waiting list.
She said three SAP payout-remittance centers here were tapped by the DSWD for the distribution. They were identified as the Rural Bank of San Leonardo, M. Lhuillier and Villarica Pawnshop.
Of this 15,207, some 8,148 beneficiaries already received their cash subsidy worth P6,500 each for a partial SAP disbursement amounting to about P53-million.
Baynosa, however, admitted that the SAP payouts for the 2nd tranche made through these remittance centers were taking longer than expected compared to the previous distribution scheme for the 1st tranche which the local government unit here itself implemented and finished within a span of one week.
“Mas mabagal siya dahil sa may cut-off o may limit depende sa pay-out ng remittance center, unlike sa dati noon dito sa LGU, isang linggo lang tapos na ang distribution,” she said.
As of Sept. 3, she explained that RBSL and Villarica have served a total of 7,293 beneficiaries within a period of 21 days starting from August 13 while M. Lhuillier which only began distributing SAP payouts on August 29 made a total of 955 SAP disbursements.
Baynosa said this figure shows the “slow” SAP distribution rate by remittance centers compared to the previous payout which was accomplished by this LGU within a week.
“Mas mahirap din ngayon kasi iyung issue ng social distancing isa pa na kinokonsider sa pay-outs,” she said.
For his part, Mayor Arvin C. Salonga said this undue delay in the SAP distribution may cause anxiety among the beneficiaries because they were made to wait much longer than expected.
“Successful iyung first tranche namin dito, nakita naman nila, kami ang isa sa kauna-unahang LGU nakatapos sa payout. Kung sa LGU lang katulad namin, nawalan lang kami ng additional task matapos ilipat ang payouts sa iba,” he added.
