ORMOC CITY – Following the signing of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” or Republic Act (RA) 11469, which lists the national government’s mechanisms, ways and means to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), local government units were subsequently called on to be of assistance to the mandated programs stipulated in the said RA, to include the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Thus, as early as March 25 during the 2nd Emergency Coordination Meeting of Punong Barangay in this city led by Liga Ng Mga Barangay President Esteban Laurente, all barangay officials were already tasked to come up with a list of residents in their respective villages who should “qualify” to be beneficiaries of the SAP.
According to the DSWD website, the SAP forms part of the department’s Emergency Subsidy Program under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), which aims to provide financial assistance to “families belonging to vulnerable sectors who have been affected by the community quarantine amid the COVID-19 crisis”.
The magic amount of the said cash assistance is accordingly between Php 5,000 and Php 8,000 depending on the “region’s minimum wage levels as these are close approximations to the amount needed to buy basic food, medicine, and hygiene essentials”; and which will be given to “qualified” families for two months.
Here in Ormoc, work on the “list” has started and LGU-Ormoc’s team targets to finalize the “list” in the week of April 12. Thus, despite the Lenten holidays, local government workers continue to report for work to be able to beat the set due dates; and soon deliver the needed “cash help” the poorest of the poor of the city has been wishing for ever since President Rodrigo Duterte put the country on quarantine to protect all from the deadly COVID-19 virus. Per a press release of the DSWD in its website, “The social amelioration measures will help mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 health crisis and the enhanced community quarantine to the target beneficiaries, particularly the senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant and lactating mothers, solo parents, overseas Filipinos in distress, indigent Indigenous Peoples, homeless citizens, and the informal economy workers”, adding that they commit to strengthening its coordination with LGUs to provide the delivery of “maagap at mapagkalingang serbisyo” to the poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged in this time of public health emergency.
By Mary Ann Reusora