Some PHP60.79 million has been disbursed to 10,132 low-income families in Central Visayas, the regional social welfare office said Thursday.

Each family received a PHP6,000 emergency cash subsidy, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 (Central Visayas) said in a statement.

The latest round of cash aid is part of the department’s Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Republic Act (RA) 11494, also known as Bayanihan 2, as its response and recovery intervention to the pandemic.

The DSWD-7 said out of the 10,132 families, 525 beneficiaries live in areas placed under granular lockdowns since September 14, among them Trinidad, Tubigon, and San Miguel in Bohol, and Zamboanguita in Negros Oriental.

The target ESP beneficiaries include affected low-income families in areas under granular lockdown; qualified families who were not covered in the first and second rounds of the Social Amelioration Program under RA 11469; and recently returned overseas Filipino workers belonging to low-income families and residing in areas under granular or localized lockdown.

The DSWD-7 has also included in the ESP the 9,607 families not covered in the earlier implementation of the SAP.

Regional director Rebecca Geamala said the Bayanihan 2 is not to be interpreted as SAP 3 or a successor of SAP 1 and SAP 2 under the already-lapsed Bayanihan to Heal As One Act or RA 11469.

“The final certified list of beneficiaries shared by the local chief executives used in the implementation of the ESP of the DSWD shall be the primary reference of the eligible beneficiaries,” Geamala said in the statement.

Using the final certified list, the concerned local government units shall identify the beneficiaries based on the eligibility criteria and are residing within all levels of granular lockdown – barangay, block, street, subdivision/village, residential building, or house.

The DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, Livelihood Assistance Grant, Supplementary Feeding Program, Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, and distribution of food and non-food items are also implemented under Bayanihan 2, aside from the ESP. (PNA)