Mindanaotoday.com | Thousands of NorMin studes yet to receive cash aid from DSWD-10
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development-10 (DSWD-10) has only one remaining Saturday for the distribution, but still thousands of students in Northern Mindanao have yet to receive the educational aid.
Many parents and students in this city expressed their disappointment after the agency posted an advisory on Friday, September 16, informing the public that they would start accommodating a limited number of beneficiaries due to the limited funds left.
Jomar Caparoso, one of the college students here who commented on the advisory posted on Facebook, felt hopeless as he has yet to receive the confirmation text from DSWD.
“I no longer expect educational assistance from DSWD. Out of the four assistance I applied for, including last year, I hadn’t been accepted. I don’t know why I would not be qualified as my father doesn’t have a job and my mother already left us. I am the one supporting my studies,” Caparoso’s comment in vernacular.
Apart from Caparoso, many students and parents commented on the advisory, expressing that they have also yet received the confirmation text after their registration more than a couple of weeks ago.
After the distribution on September 17, the DSWD regional office 10 has already accommodated 27,800 eligible students in the region and distributed a total of P80,236,000 worth of financial assistance.
The said total beneficiaries accommodated are only few from the total potential beneficiaries in Northern Mindanao who registered to get the cash aid.
The DSWD region 10 has already received an overall 300,000 online and offline registrations – including the 27,800 eligible beneficiaries who already received the cash aid. The agency also clarified that the text confirmation is first registration basis (first come first serve).
Ramel Jamen, DSWD-10 regional director, in an interview Sunday, September 18, confirmed that a total of P120 million has been allocated for the educational assistance in the entire Northern Mindanao.
However, he clarified that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) only released P87,190,000 as a partial budget.
The possible basis of DBM for this is to ensure that the partial budget would be fully utilized prior to getting the remaining budget, the DSWD-10 Director explained.
“They are going to check if the budget is fully utilized. It is easy to ask for a budget, however, the distribution is very slow,” Jamen said in vernacular.
With the total worth of cash aid distributed, the agency has now P6,954,000 remaining budget left to be distributed in the last payout of educational aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), which will be conducted on September 24.
The DSWD-10 has yet to receive any official instructions as to obtaining the remaining budget from the P120 million remark.
Jamen said there is a possibility that the budget under the typical AICS program would be used or there would be additional budget to release in order to complete the distribution of P120 million worth of educational assistance in Northern Mindanao.
With regards to the potential beneficiaries who still have not received the assistance after the last day of the distribution, the DSWD-10 assured that they will raise the concern to the national government to comply with the DSWD’s commitment, which is to provide the educational aid to all eligible beneficiaries in the country.
“We will represent this to the national level because the DSWD declared that qualified beneficiaries will be given educational assistance,” Jamen said.
He is positive for another round of educational assistance, which he recalled the same scenario of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) during the intense moment of Covid-19 pandemic. (MT)
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