DSWD-NIR readies UPLIFT payout for 67,000 more beneficiaries

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Negros Island Region is preparing for the next rollout of the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport Assistance, or UPLIFT, which will cover an additional 67,000 beneficiaries.

Each beneficiary will receive PHP 2,000.

The beneficiaries were identified through the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Community-Based Monitoring System, which is used to determine qualified poor and near-poor households under UPLIFT’s Group 2.

As of Aug. 21, DSWD-NIR had completed its initial UPLIFT payout for Group 2, providing PHP 282,842,000 to 141,421 beneficiaries.

The next batch of 67,000 beneficiaries represents another PHP 134 million in assistance if all receive the full PHP 2,000 payout.

DSWD-NIR said it is strengthening coordination and preparations for the next phase, including validating beneficiary information, coordinating with partner local government units, and disseminating payout schedules and requirements.

The succeeding rollout will expand the program’s reach to more qualified households across the Negros Island Region.

Under the national UPLIFT program, Group 2 consists of 2.5 million poor and near-poor households identified through the 2024 CBMS that are not beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or the Walang Gutom Program.

Qualified Group 2 households are entitled to PHP 2,000 monthly from July through December 2026 to help cover food, transportation, fuel, and other basic household expenses. UPLIFT is a national government-funded assistance program intended to help poor, near-poor, and low-income households cope with higher living costs associated with the energy emergency and geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.