THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will no longer accept walk-in applicants for the P1,000 to P4,000 one-time government educational assistance for indigent students and those “in crisis situations.”
DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said students who want to avail of the cash aid are required to register online so the agency can vet if they are qualified to avail the assistance or not.
If they are qualified, they will receive a QR code and a text confirmation for the schedule of the processing and release of their financial aid.
Tulfo said qualified recipients need to present a certificate of enrollment and identification card as proof of their identity and school enlistment.
He said the DSWD is coordinating with the Department of Education about reports that some schools are charging students for copies of their enrollment certificates.
He noted that that almost all Filipinos own cellphones and have access to the internet, thus making online registration easy.
He added that the online registration is in line with the ongoing digitalization of the government.
The educational assistance under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program is given to poor students and “students-in-crisis” to help defray the cost of school tuition fees, school supplies, transportation, and other school-related expenses.
Tulfo said the distribution of the aid would now be done by batches and in alphabetical order to avoid a repeat of last Saturday’s experience when several people, including those with small children, swarmed DSWD offices.
He said the DSWD has come up with a new set up and has inked a memorandum of agreement with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) so local government units and police units can assist them and to improve the distribution.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said the police would provide security and ensure order during the distribution, while LGUs will provide spacious venue for the payout.
Abalos said it will still be the DSWD that will identify the beneficiaries, distribute the aid and release the money.
He said the financial aid will not come from local elected officials and the list of beneficiaries will not be provided by local executives.
“DSWD will have the list, not the governor, the mayor, or the barangay captain,” he said.
Some local government officials have complained about the DSWD’s supposed lack of coordination with them when they first implemented the cash aid.
The cash aid will be distributed every Saturday until September 24.
Tulfo said P154 million has been distributed during the first day of the implementation of the cash aid last August 20 which benefitted 53, 159 students.
He said they expect to distribute the cash aid to around 375,000 to 400,000 students-in-crisis this year.
The financial aid is limited to a maximum of three students per family and qualified elementary students will get P1,000; qualified high school students will get P2,000; qualified senior high school students will get P3,000; and qualified vocational/college students will get P4,000.
Students eligible for 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.