A total of 2,297 household beneficiaries in this town received the initial cash assistance under the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) assistance through the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Friday.

The beneficiaries are part of Group 2, or the indigent and near-poor, based on the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Each household received PHP2,000.

Mercedes Santos, one of the beneficiaries, in an interview, said she would use the amount received to buy her maintenance medicines and for her children.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa pangulo dahil sa tulong na ito (I thank the President for this aid),” she said.

Alma Lopez said she would use the money to buy food for her family.

“Malaking tulong sa mga kagaya naming mahihirap (This is a big help for poor people like us),” she said.

Mercedes Rangel said the amount would be allotted for their expenses at home with her three children.

“This monthly cash aid is for my children’s allowances,” she said in Filipino.

Riowel Ferrer said he would use it to buy rice for his family.

There are 54,022 total household beneficiaries in Pangasinan under the UPLIFT program.

DSWD-1 Regional Director Marie Angela Gopalan, in a recent interview, said the beneficiaries are part of the poor and near-poor (those 25 percent above the poverty threshold) as determined by the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System of the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development.

Each household beneficiary will receive PHP2,000 from July to December this year; the first payout will be in person or via manual transfer, and subsequent payouts will be through a digital platform.

“This was introduced by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. due to the energy crisis to help those at the poverty line through cash relief assistance under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis program,” she said.

Gopalan said other groups of beneficiaries are members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and those listed in the Walang Gutom Program.

Recipients under the 4Ps will receive only a one-time PHP2,000 cash assistance, while WGP beneficiaries will also get the same aid through manual payouts during their scheduled food redemption periods.

Other beneficiaries include individuals from low-income households who are validated or verified through the Social Security System.

Qualified SSS beneficiaries are contributors with a monthly salary credit of less than PHP20,000 who have made at least one contribution in the past year and have enrolled in disbursement accounts.

If multiple qualified SSS members live in the same household, only the oldest will get the benefit. (PNA)