More than 5.39 million poor, near-poor and low-income households have benefited from the Marcos administration’s Unified Package for Livelihood, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) Assistance, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Monday.
DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said the agency has distributed the initial PHP2,000 assistance to 73 percent of the program’s beneficiaries, with total disbursements reaching more than PHP10.791 billion.
“Ibig sabihin po nito ay limang milyon na pong sambahayan ang natulungan na ating gobyerno, sa pangunguna ng ating Pangulo, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., para maibsan ang epekto ng pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin at pangunahing serbisyo dahil sa nangyayaring kaguluhan sa sa Gitnang Silangan (This means that our government, under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., has already helped five million households cope with the impact of rising prices of basic commodities and essential services amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East),” Dumlao said.
Of the total, 3,200,583 households under Group 1 have received the one-time PHP2,000 top-up assistance, consisting of beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and Walang Gutom Program (WGP).
“Uulitin po namin, isang beses lang po makatatanggap ng UPLIFT ang mga benepisyaryo ng 4Ps at WGP. Ito ay top-up sa natatanggap nilang benepisyo sa 4Ps at WGP (We reiterate that 4Ps and WGP beneficiaries will receive UPLIFT only once. This is a top-up to the benefits they receive under the 4Ps and WGP),” Dumlao said.
For Group 2, 1,391,849 beneficiaries have received their July UPLIFT assistance, while 802,216 low-income Social Security System members under Group 3 have received their first PHP2,000 cash assistance.
“Pinipilit po natin na matapos na agad ang payout para sa Group 2, ito ‘yung poor at near-poor households na galing sa 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority. Sila ‘yung kailangan na i-manual payout para sa unang buwan pero digital payout na sa mga susunod na buwan hanggang December (We are working to complete the payout for Group 2 as soon as possible. These are poor and near-poor households identified through the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority. They need to receive their first-month assistance through manual payout, but subsequent payments through December will be made digitally),” Dumlao said. (PNA)
