BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental is not included in the second tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) of the national government scheduled for release this month, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson announced.
Negros Occidental residents, according to Lacson, are not covered by the second tranche of SAP because the province was not under enhanced community quarantine in May.
Only those who were left out from the distribution of the first tranche may be included, the governor added.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, aside from Bacolod City, Iloilo province and Iloilo City are included in the areas covered by the second tranche.
Bacolod City will be covered because the city was under ECQ from May 1 to 15.
The first tranche of P6,000 per beneficiary was released in April.
SAP is a cash emergency subsidy program (ESP) for 18 million Filipino families whose lives are greatly affected by the ECQ. It is mandated by the new law, the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act, which was signed by the President on March 25, 2020.
The program is headed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1. Series 2020, signed by the implementing departments, states that each qualified family can receive at least P5,000 up to P8,000 per month for two months for basic food, medicine and toiletries. The amount varies, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage rates and takes into account the other subsidy programs in cash or in-kind, under the DSWD./PN
