MANILA – With most part of the country shifting to general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ (MGCQ) starting today, there would be no more third tranche of cash subsidy under the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP), Malacañang said over the weekend.
“Itong buwan ng Hunyo, dahil lahat po tayo ay nasa GCQ (at MGCQ) na, wala [na] pong ayuda,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
He clarified that those who have qualified for the second tranche of SAP would still receive their cash subsidies once it is ready.
There were a total of 17 million families – 12 million out of the 18 million low-income families along with five million families who did not receive any assistance in the first tranche – who are qualified for the second wave of SAP.
The government has not yet begun the distribution of the second tranche of financial assistance because it is still verifying the identities of the additional five million beneficiaries.
The government is targeting the automated release of the second tranche of emergency subsidies to avoid recipients’ possible exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The government has allotted a P200-billion emergency package for low-income families to help them weather the health crisis as economic activities were brought to a grinding halt.
Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, each beneficiary will receive cash aid ranging between P5,000 and P8,000 twice (April and May) based on minimum wage rates in the region. The program was later expanded to cover 5 million more families./PN
