Allots P5.2 billion for TCT beneficiaries, covers PWDs in cash-for-work plan
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will start distributing this month P5.2 billion in cash aid to 12.4 million beneficiaries under the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program, Undersecretary Edu Punay said on Saturday.
The amount is an additional grant for the third tranche of the cash aid, the DSWD official said in an interview on Dobol B TV.
This developed as the agency will now include persons with disabilities (PWDs) in its Cash-For-Work program, DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said Saturday.
“Starting today you are included in the Cash-For-Work program of the DSWD in your community,” Tulfo said at the “BUHAYanihan” event in Pililla, Rizal, as the country celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Through their participation in various community work or services, PWDs will receive up to P4,000 in cash assistance.
Tulfo said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the DSWD to assist and look after PWDs, who the secretary said were often being left behind or forgotten by society.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday it released P5.2 billion to cover the one-month requirement of the DSWD’s TCT program, in which beneficiaries will receive P500 a month for six months.
The unconditional cash transfers will benefit the most affected households or “vulnerable populations” for half a year in a bid to mitigate the effects of fuel price increases and other commodities.
It includes those identified as the “poorest of the poor”—four million “4Ps” beneficiaries—and six million former Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) beneficiaries, including social pensioners who are indigent senior citizens, and 2.4 million additional beneficiaries coming from DSWD’s Listahanan program, which Punay said are currently being validated.
Beneficiaries will receive their P500 via a cash card issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines, which the DSWD will top up.
The DBM previously released a total of P10.33 billion to the DSWD covering two months of cash transfers for 10 million target household beneficiaries.
In a media briefing, Tulfo said assistance for PWDs is currently not in the budget of DSWD for 2023, but funds will be available from the agency’s other programs such as the KALAHI-CIDSS Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation.
The DSWD Secretary said he will appeal to Congress for the monthly compensation of PWDs—coincidentally, his brother is Sen. Raffy Tulfo.