MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday assured the public that the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and other forms of social protection services remain accessible for people in need despite the temporary suspension of Guarantee Letters (GLs).
In a news release, Director Edwin Morata, assistant director of the DSWD’s Program Management Bureau (PMB) and Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the Crisis Intervention Unit, said the DSWD’s Central and Field Offices, as well as satellite offices, will continue to facilitate requests for other types of assistance under the AICS program, such as medical, burial, funeral, food and transportation, in the form of outright cash.
“We just want to make it clear that the DSWD will still provide up to PHP 10, 000 cash aid to our AICS clients. This won’t be interrupted by the suspension of our Guarantee Letters at all,” he said. “The temporary halt in the issuance of GLs does not mean that we can no longer provide assistance to our kababayans (countrymen) who are dealing with crisis and difficult situations.”
The DSWD earlier announced that the issuance of GL will be temporarily suspended after December 13 this year and is set to resume early January next year.
Morata said the suspension is just temporary and undertaken to make way for the agency’s annual liquidation process and complete the payments to service providers who have already assisted beneficiaries.
“The main reason we raised this as early as we can is because we seek to inform our citizens of and make informed decisions on how they can possibly make amends with these adjustments,” he said.
He said the regular clients of AICS have been informed in advance to help them cope with the temporary changes, particularly those using GLs for their maintenance medicine.
On average, a GL can help agency clients purchase maintenance medicines for a three-month intake.
Morata assured the agency is committed to wrapping up the year-end auditing as soon as possible and alleviating the worries of the public.
“Rest assured that to the best of our ability, we will strive to wrap up, as soon as possible, our liquidation process and resume with the issuance and processing of guarantee letters,” he said.
According to the DSWD, more than 6.5 million Filipinos facing difficult circumstances were provided by the DSWD with aid amounting to PHP40.9 billion through the AICS program in 2023.
The amount of assistance released under the AICS program in 2023 represented a 98.5 percent utilization of the fund worth over PHP41.5 million.
The number of clients served under the AICS in 2023 is more than four times the program’s annual total target of 1, 691, 869 beneficiaries. (PNA)