6,000 get cash aid, rice in Surigao provinces

Over 6,000 residents of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur on Friday received cash assistance under the government programs meant to help vulnerable sectors including students who need financial aid and small entrepreneurs.

The distribution of aid was done under the Cash and Rice Distribution (CARD), Start-up, Incentives, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL) and the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives Program for the Youth (ISIP for the Youth) in separate ceremonies in the province.

House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias “Ponyong” P. Gabonada Jr., one of the leaders of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair National Secretariat, said the CARD program, is aimed at helping senior citizens, PWDs, single parents, and Indigenous Peoples, etc., provides rice and cash aid to qualified beneficiaries.

Gabonada said a total of 2,000 beneficiaries in Surigao del Sur received P2,000 each through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The recipients also received 10 kilos of rice.

Some 2,000 beneficiaries also received P5,000 in cash assistance at the Andres Soriano College of Bislig in Surigao Del Norte. This was done under the SIBOL program which helps struggling business owners.

The beneficiaries each received five kilos of rice.

Under the ISIP for the Youth, Gabonada said 2,000 tertiary education students in Surigao del Norte each received a cash aid of P2,000 every six months in a simple ceremony undertaken in the Bislig City Cultural and Sports Center.

Aside from the cash aid and receiving five kilos of rice, Gabonada said the students will also be enrolled in the Commission of Higher Education’s Tulong Dunong Program.

Under the CHED program, students may receive scholarship assistance per semester amounting to P15,000.

They will also obtain priority slots under the Government Internship Program after graduation and their unemployed parents or guardians may be enrolled in the Department of Labor and Employment’s TUPAD program, Gabonada said. 

“Pag may BPSF sa isang lugar, tiyak na may distribution din sa ilalim ng CARD, SIBOL at ISIP. At atin itong hinihiwalay para masiguro na ating maabot ang ilang sektor ng lipunan na nahihirapan sa ating panahon ngayon,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said.

“Each of the sectors benefitting from these programs have their own unique challenges to face," he added. —NB, GMA Integrated News