August 27 payout of education aid was better, improved – DSWD-6

DSWD Undersecretary Vilma Cabrera of the DSWD Central Office and DSWD-6 OIC-Regional Director Delia Villa-Bagolcol visit the Municipal Covered Gym in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo to check the distribution of educational aid on Aug 27, 2022. (Photo from DSWD-6 FB page)

By Jennifer P. Rendon

From the “chaotic” disbursement the previous Saturday, the education assistance payout on August 27, 2022 was deemed “generally peaceful, organized and smooth.”

Atty. May Rago-Castillo, Department of Social Welfare and Development 6 (DSWD-6) public information officer, said that the additional assessment and payout sites helped ensure that no untoward incident happened.

For the second of the six Saturdays of the educational grant payout, DSWD-6 said they were able to serve 7,852 clients, or 88.17 percent of their target beneficiaries.

The amount disbursed totaled P22,786,000.

The prevalent concern in payout centers was the presence of walk-in applicants despite the repeated reminders that they won’t be served.

“They were not assessed but they were made to write their names and contact numbers in the drop box,” Castillo said.

She added the rest are minor concerns that were immediately addressed.

“For those who are not included in the August 27 payout, they will have four more Saturdays to apply,” Castillo said adding that they should register online.

Once they received a text or email about their schedule, they could proceed to payout centers.

Again, she stressed that Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries and government scholars are disqualified to avail of the educational grant.