- *Cheryl G. Cruz
The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas said it released a total of P20.7 million in educational assistance for students in crisis in the region, as of 8 p.m. Aug. 20, including the P2.2 million in Negros Occidental and Bacolod.
This as DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo apologized for the bedlam and very long queues that occurred Saturday in various payout sites, including at the Ayala Malls Capital Central in Bacolod. In Zamboanga, a stampede occurred and 29 people were injured.
Tulfo said in a post Sunday that the DSWD will do better on Aug. 27, the next payout schedule, and in the four Saturdays of September, adding that the release of the cash aid will be in coordination with the local government units and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“We are very sorry. Sa mga galit po sa amin ngayon dahil hindi po namin natulungan…ang amin pong taos pusong paumanhin. Sa mga darating na Sabado, katuwang na namin ang DILG at ang mga LGU. Ang payout ay gagawin na namin sa mga lungsod at bayan po ninyo,” Tulfo said. “Wag po kayong mag-alala dahil ang DSWD pa rin po ang mamimili ng mga benepisyaryo para maiwasan ang palakasan, kapit, at padrino.”
He added that those who were given stubs or had filled up the form Aug. 20 and deemed qualified will be contacted by the DSWD personnel on when and where they will receive their cash assistance.
The one-time cash assistance will accommodate up to three children per indigent family, with P1,000 for elementary students, P2,000 for high school, P3,000 for senior high school, and P4,000 for college and vocational course students.
In Negros Occidental and Bacolod, 587 beneficiaries received P2,203,000 Saturday.
For the whole of Western Visayas, the beneficiaries reached 5,144, mostly in Iloilo with 1,713 clients paid P7.75 million, 719 in Aklan with P2.67 million released; 613 in Antique for a payout of P2.26 million; 957 in Capiz with P4.7 million; and 555 clients in Guimaras paid P1.17 million in all.
DSWD 6 OI regional director Delia Villa-Bagolcol said in a statement that the cash aid aims to help poor students with their school supplies, projects, allowance, and other school needs, with the opening of classes set today, Aug. 22.
For registration, applicants may fill out an online form through https://bit.ly/dswdfo6EducAssistance; scan a QR code, or send an email to dswd.educassistance@gmail.com, the DSWD said.
Emails to extension offices and messages sent to designated mobile phone numbers earlier disseminated will be catered to schedule the assessment of clients, Villa-Bagolcol added.
Those qualified include breadwinners, even if they’re not the head of the family; working students; orphaned, abandoned or those living with their relatives; kids of solo or jobless parents; students with disabilities in crisis situation; kids of rebel returnees or of persons deprived of liberty; those with HIV or living with parents with HIV; victims of abuse or displacement; or students in crisis due to human-induced or natural calamities, the DSWD said./CGC
