The legislative department of the City Government of Baguio passed a resolution (Resolution 192-2020) on April 6 authorizing Mayor Benjamin Magalong to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the release and distribution of the social amelioration package under the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) to qualified families in the City of Baguio.
Resolution 192-2020 stated that a MOA between the city mayor and the DSWD is one of the requirements for the Social Amelioration Program pursuant to Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 (JMC-1).
JMC-1 specifies the subsidy amount which a qualified family will receive in each region under the ESP. The specified amount for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) based on its minimum wage rate is P5,500.00. The said program covers the months of April and May of 2020.
The local legislators further confirmed the MOA by virtue of another resolution (Resolution 193-2020) which legitimizes the release and distribution of the social amelioration package to qualified families in the city. Based on the project proposal prepared and submitted by the City Social Welfare and Development Office, the allocated amount for the City of Baguio is P263,763,500.00 which will subsidize 47,957 families.
During the meeting attended by punong barangays regarding the said program held on April 9 at the CDRRMC Hall, Motorpool, Baguio City, DSWD-CAR Regional Director Leo Quintilla elaborated who are the qualified beneficiaries of the ESP as stipulated in the JMC-1.
Among the qualified families are those with a member who is a recipient of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) grant, a low-income worker in the informal economy who was displaced from work or was temporarily deprived of their livelihood due to the community quarantine, a solo parent who has no source of income during the quarantine period, and an indigent senior citizen (whether receiving social pension from the DSWD or not).
Other target beneficiaries of the social amelioration program under JMC-1 are persons with disability (PWDs), pregnant and lactating women, overseas Filipinos who were banned from traveling outside the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak, indigent indigenous peoples, and underprivileged sector and homeless citizens.
Quintilla also clarified that a family is not eligible for the social amelioration if it has a member whose salary or income remains uninterrupted during the ongoing ECQ or if it has a member who is a pensioner of the Government Service Insurance System or Social Security System. **Jordan G. Habbiling
