Some 5,651,831 out of the 10 million beneficiaries have already received their P2,400 Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) grants for 2018 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) utilizing a total of P13,477,994,400, as of July 25.

“The Department has accomplished 56.52 percent of our target, and we plan to finish providing the cash grants to the remaining 4,348,417 by September,” DSWD Secretary Virginia N. Orogo said.

Those who have received their grants include 4,295,464 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, 1,215,426 seniors under the Social Pension Program, and 104,941 families under the Listahanan.

The UCT is the tax subsidy program under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law which seeks to provide cash subsidies to 10 million indigent Filipino families/individuals to cushion the effect of the adjustments in the excise tax of petroleum products and sweetened beverages.

Sec. Orogo emphasized that the UCT grant is just an added assistance to help the poor cope with the increase in prices of basic commodities and not meant to address all their needs. Studies have also shown that the impact of the excise tax adjustment is very minimal compared to the impact of the price increases of crude oil in the global market.

The Department is continuously conducting pay-outs to the remaining beneficiaries.

“We know that our kababayans really need this assistance. We are doing our best to fast-track the distribution so that they can already use the cash assistance for their basic needs,” Sec. Orogo assured. ###