Bacolod starts UPLIFT payouts for 3,000 beneficiaries

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region began distributing cash assistance under the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport, or UPLIFT, program to 3,000 beneficiaries here Monday.

For the first tranche, 624 qualified beneficiaries received PHP 2,000 each during the payout at SM City Bacolod in coordination with the city government.

DSWD-NIR personnel worked alongside local partners to help ensure the orderly processing and distribution of assistance, including guiding beneficiaries through the necessary verification and payout procedures.

The three-day payout, scheduled from Aug. 10 to 12, provides additional financial support to qualified beneficiaries as they address household needs and other essential expenses.

The distribution forms part of the continuing rollout of the UPLIFT program, reflecting the agency’s commitment to bringing social protection services closer to communities and ensuring that qualified beneficiaries receive timely and accessible support.

Meanwhile, 95,966 poor and near-poor beneficiaries across the Negros Island Region have received PHP 191,932,000 in UPLIFT cash assistance as of Aug. 10, according to DSWD-NIR.

The continuing payout has reached 62,615 beneficiaries in Negros Occidental, 32,915 in Negros Oriental, and 436 in Siquijor.

The recipients are classified under Group 2, composed of poor and near-poor households identified through the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System, and are entitled to receive PHP 2,000 in monthly cash assistance from July through December.

Nationwide, Group 2 covers about 2.5 million poor and near-poor households that are not beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or Walang Gutom Program.

The distribution followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s July announcement expanding UPLIFT assistance as part of the government’s continuing measures to cushion the effects of the Middle East crisis and resulting economic pressures on vulnerable sectors.