Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco has asked the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) to explain the removal of some beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) from the second tranche payroll.
In his letter to DSWD-National Capital Region Director Vicente Gregorio Tomas, Tiangco noted the case of Navotas residents, who received their first tranche of emergency subsidy but were excluded in the new payrolls for the second tranche.
“Every day, we receive queries and complaints from our constituents about their second tranche subsidy. They have been waiting for months now. What is the use of calling it an ‘emergency assistance’ if we cannot give it to them at their critical time of need?” Tiangco asked.
Navotas has 27,929 qualified beneficiaries based on the city’s liquidation report for the first tranche of SAP.
DSWD-NCR sent only 26,699 names for the digital payout of the second tranche. Of this, 11,439 have claimed their subsidy and 666 have been disqualified for being recipients of financial assistance from other agencies.
In addition, 9,104 beneficiaries, who initially experienced failed PayMaya transactions, are in the process of receiving their payout.
The remaining 5,490, who also encountered data error issues, are still waiting for an update on when they would receive their subsidy.
The names of the residents were nowhere to be found in any of the payrolls for the second tranche.
“It’s almost Christmas. The least we can do for those who are already suffering is to alleviate their burden and give them their due,” Tiangco lamented.
To help residents who were unable to receive the SAP subsidy, the city government distributed the financial assistance from the mayor’s donated April 2020 to June 2022 salary.
“We wanted to wait for the SAP to finish, but since it is taking so long, we had to start the distribution,” he said.
The donation, worth P3.2 million, would benefit 1,645 residents. Each beneficiary will receive P2,000.
“I hope the DSWD will resolve this issue soon and enlighten us how our constituents could claim their subsidy,” he added.
