Over P154 million in student assistance has already been distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development as of yesterday, 22 August, according to DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez.
The cash aid is part of the DSWD Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program intended to help students with their educational needs like school supplies and equipment.
The DSWD is now making payouts to qualified students until 24 September.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent the chaos that marred the distribution in some DSWD offices, Secretary Erwin Tulfo on Saturday said they will coordinate with the local governments in the control measures to be taken.
Not to preempt the coordination with the Department of Interior and Local Government, we are still trying to figure out how to do it, so we can expect that the procedure on Saturday will be changed, but at this point in time, we are still waiting for the guidelines regarding that. It was part of our recalibrated approach, so just please bear with us, we are fixing it,” Lopez said.