The disbursement of the second part of the national government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) is now ongoing, the Quezon City government announced on Monday.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said 356,818 of the 377,584 target recipients of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are already funded and disbursement is now underway.

“Nagpapasalamat tayo sa pamahalaan sa ibinigay nilang tulong sa mahihirap na residente ng lungsod. Higit itong kailangan ngayon, lalo pa’t bumalik tayo sa modified enhanced community quarantine (Thanks to the government for their assistance to poor residents in the city. This is much-needed especially now that we have reverted to MECQ),” Belmonte said.

“Per report from the DSWD, the disbursement of the fund will be made by the national government through GCASH and not downloaded to the local government. This way, intended beneficiaries can get the aid faster via digital payment,” she added.

According to city administrator Mike Alimurung, of the 377,584 recipients, the DSWD noted that 16,406 are duplicates or have received assistance from another national government program while data for the remaining 4,000 beneficiaries need updating.

Alimurung said the over 217,000 families who were waitlisted from the first tranche of SAP have been encoded and funded.

“The disbursement is also ongoing and the payout will also be made through GCASH,” Alimurung said.

Meanwhile, Belmonte announced that the distribution of Quezon City’s own SAP will continue after the lapse of MECQ on Aug. 18.

The city government SAP has allotted PHP4,000 financial assistance for each of the families left out of the national government’s SAP. (PNA)