The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) today released its Week 3 Accomplishment Report on the ESCAP or Emergency Shelter Cash Assistance Project (ESCAP) which details Total Funded vs Distributed ESCAP. The covered period of the 3rd report is from November 23 to 29.

Under the ESCAP, residents affected by Typhoon Lawin will receive financial assistance. Those with partially damaged houses are being given  P10,000, while those with totally destroyed houses will receive P30,000.

Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReamB) Director Felino Castro said that a total of P150.6 million has been distributed to 30,007 family-beneficiaries since the ESCAP was launched in the aftermath of Typhoon Lawin. Some 21% of the total funded targets have been distributed. The Field Office Cumulative Accomplishment vs Total Funded for Week 3 is as follows:

Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region – 23.6%

Field Office  I– 57.7%

Field Office II – 6.2%

Field Office  III – 106.9%

Dir. Castro said that the DSWD Field Offices, the DreamB, and the Office of the Secretary itself continue to receive reports  via social media from many Filipinos in Northern Luzon   regarding their need for assistance. He said that the DSWD units recognize the need to hasten the release of the ESCAP.

“We admit that there are many areas of concerns that contribute to the delays in the project implementation. For instance, we encounter difficulties because of the geographical terrain/location of communities targeted for project implementation. We need to reach these difficult-to-access sites to expedite the completion of the validation and administration of the ESCAP Application Form. We have to reach our kababayans who need help rebuilding their homes, but their areas are so far. We are finding means and ways to overcome the difficulties presented by the distance and difficult terrain so we can get house information of the thousands who need the ESCAP,” said Dir. Castro.

“We have also put together a ‘crash plan’ of ESCAP Funded Targets,” said Dir. Castro.

“To complete the distribution of the totally funded ESCAP, the concerned Field Offices will reprogram their weekly targets for December 2016. There is also a need to field more staff, vehicles, and other operational resources. We also need to hire people to assist in validation and distribution,” he said.

The DreamB has also made recommendations for weekly targets.

“We hope that our Field Offices will be able to increase the number of beneficiaries they will be able to provide the ESCAP to. For FO-CAR, the number of beneficiaries reached per week this December should be 5,641. For FO1, the target should be 3,235; while for FO2, 20,151 beneficiaries should be reached every week. What we want is to reach and provide for as many ‘Lawin’-affected Filipinos as possible,” Dir. Castro said. ###