Alicia, Isabela – A total of 13,270 recipients of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) are expected to receive their grant in this town starting today, April 09, 2020 as personnel from the DSWD Field Office 02 and partners from the Local Government Unit (LGU) Alicia commence distribution to qualified beneficiaries.

The payout of beneficiaries in Alicia is targeted for completion in 4 days, with a day off tomorrow in observance of Black Friday before resuming again the following day.

The municipality of Alicia, Isabela was the first LGU to receive funding for the implementation of SAP, receiving the assistance last Tuesday, April 07, 2020.

To date, the field office has already given funding to 59 out of the 93 LGUs in the region, with more LGUs to follow in the coming days.

There are a total of 586,675 target beneficiaries of the SAP in the Cagayan Valley Region, not including the 106,122 household beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who already received their share of the SAP, with 5,958 target beneficiaries for Batanes province, 199,683 for Cagayan, 269,987 for Isabela, 80,903 for Nueva Vizcaya and 30,144 for Quirino.

Each qualified beneficiary will receive an amount not exceeding the regional minimum wage of P5,500 per month. The SAP under the DSWD shall be given in two tranches, one in April and another in May.

Other response operations of the field office at this time include the distribution of food and non-food items to LGUs with depleted supplies. Field office staff meanwhile continue repacking food items to add to the existing stockpile, ready for augmentation to partner LGUs.

The support given by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has likewise been critical in ensuring safety and security in the conduct of DSWD activities in the region. ###