1.4M students sign up for gov’t cash relief

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DSWD says only 400K to get subsidy

AROUND 1.4 million students have applied for the educational cash aid being distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under its assistance program for indigent or “in crisis” students.

But Social Welfare assistant secretary Mel Lopez said not all the applicants will get the financial assistance as this is limited to poor students who do not get any government educational assistance, such as scholarship allowances and those given under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Lopez said also excluded are schoolchildren who get stipends or pocket money for books, transportation, uniforms, and other school requirements from local government officials.

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In an interview with TV5’s OneNews, Lopez said that while the seed money for the student cash aid has been raised to P1.5 billion, from the original P500 million, this is still not enough to cover all those who are applying for the aid.

“Nasa 1.4 million ang naghahangad… pero students in crisis, hindi estudyante lang (ang mabibigyan). Bigyan natin ng pagkakataon na ang students in crisis naman ang matulungan ng national government (Around 1.4 million have applied for the cash assistance… but this is limited to students in crisis, not just any student. Let us give students in crisis a chance to get help from the national government),” Lopez said.

DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo has said the P1.5 billion seed money for the student grant will only benefit 375,000 to 400,000 students.

Lopez reiterated that students eligible for the government support are breadwinners, working students, orphans, children of solo parents, children of jobless parents, children of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as victims of calamity and abuse who have yet to receive any form of aid from the government.

He again reminded students and their parents that the DSWD will no longer accept walk-in applicants, stressing that schoolchildren need to register online so the agency can vet and consider their applications.

All applicants, he said, need to wait for confirmation of their date and time of assessment before going to DSWD payout centers. They are required to submit enrollment certificates and bring identification cards as proof of their identities.

The DSWD cash subsidy will be distributed every Saturday until September 24. It started last August 20.

It is limited to a maximum of three students per family and qualified elementary students will get P1,000 each; qualified high school students will get P2,000; qualified senior high school students will get P3,000; and qualified vocational or college students will get P4,000.

Lopez said 4Ps beneficiaries who were able to get the educational assistance during the first day of distribution have been informed that the received amounts will be deducted from their monthly 4Ps payout.

He also clarified that 4Ps beneficiaries who applied for educational aid for children who are already are also disqualified because their families already belong to the government’s conditional subsidy program, which covered only students up to the senior high school level.

Tulfo said P154 million was distributed during the first day of the implementation of the cash aid last August 20, which benefitted 53,159 students.

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