By Isabella Magno

In time for the reopening of schools on August 22, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) offered educational assistance to up to three students per indigent family; however, the program was met with commotion on its first day, Saturday, August 20. 

To resolve the conflict in distributing the monetary aid to students—worth Php 1,000 for elementary school students, Php 2,000 for junior high school students, Php 3,000 for senior high school students, and Php 4,000 for college students—DSWD asked for help from cities and municipalities.

In an online press conference today, DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo said that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) is now being forged with the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Once the MOA is finalized, Filipinos will not need to crowd DSWD offices since their local government units will be able to provide them with their designated financial aid.

Moreover, the Kabataan Partylist referred to the DSWD as being “ill-prepared” after Tulfo stated that their department was not expecting that such a large number of individuals would drive to their offices today.

In line with this, former Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor Chair Terry Ridon said that the DSWD should have better prepared for the number of people needing the educational aid.

“Government should not blame the poor for lining up in DSWD offices as they were only following agency announcements and they were rightfully claiming their cash aid today. It should have expected the flurry of people going to DSWD offices, and coordinated with other government partners to better manage the crowds,” Ridon said.

Notwithstanding, Tulfo reassured the public that the Php 500 million allocated fund for the cash aid is sufficient to cover the needs of students who need it.

Thumbnail from Rappler