The Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development today held a presscon at the DSWD Central Office to explain the mechanism the agency has developed to implement the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) component of the national government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN program.

“The DSWD was given the responsibility by congress to implement the distribution of the P200 per month UCT, and we will carry out that responsibility the most efficient way that we can. We have put together a mechanism that will enable us to distribute the P200 UCT to 10 million Filipinos who belong to the poorer sectors of the country. Even as we implement our other  social welfare programs, we will take on this task of setting up a new program management office (PMO) which will  focus on the payroll generation, beneficiary validation, and the release of the funds to  the beneficiaries,” said OIC Emmanuel A. Leyco.

“We understand the immediate need of many Filipinos for economic assistance from the government in the wake of the implementation of the TRAIN which has caused an increase in petroleum prices. We aim to finish the distribution of the UCT to all 10 million beneficiaries before the end of June 2018. We continue to coordinate with the Department of Finance – the lead agency in the crafting of the TRAIN program–  the Land Bank of the Philippines wherein the UCT funds are lodged, as well as other possible partners to ensure that the implementation of the UCT will go smoothly,” he said.

OIC Leyco explained that the DSWD will implement the UCT scheme for three years as stipulated in the TRAIN. It will release P2,400 (P200 per month) in 2018 and a total of P3,600 (P300 per month) in 2019 and in 2020.  P24 billion has been earmarked for the 2018 UCT implementation in the FY 2018 GAA.

“Ten million households/individuals will receive the UCT. Of this figure, 4.4 million are Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries. DSWD will facilitate the payment to 1.8 million beneficiaries with cash cards by January 31, 2018. The remaining 2.6 million Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries without cash cards will receive the grants through partner conduits at a later date. Also included in the 10 million UCT beneficiaries are three million indigent senior citizens who are also beneficiaries of DSWD Social Pension Program which is being implemented with the help of local government units (LGUs) and social development offices (SDOs). The remaining 2.6 million households will be selected from the Listahanan or National Household Targeting System (NHTS-PR) which will go through validation.  The validation process is expected to last for three months, with the final list to be out by May, and the distribution of the cash grants to be done by June 2018,” OIC Leyco said.

“We are currently finalizing the guidelines in the implementation of the UCT to include the partnership terms of reference with the Land Bank and other financial conduits. We want to go about this thoroughly to ensure that the UCT will reach the intended recipients without complications. The UCT will be implemented for three years, and while we know that while there will be birth pains in the first year of implementation, we want to make sure that these problems will be minimal and can be immediately remedied,” he added.

Finally, OIC Leyco said that DSWD will continue to uphold efficiency, transparency and compassion in the delivery of its programs and services — now including the UCT — and to be true to its mandate to provide maagap at mapagkalingang serbisyo and serbisyong walang puwang sa katiwalian.

“We are committed to serving the Filipino people the best way that we can,” he concluded. #