The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) clarified that the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) under the Bayanihan 1 is given only in two tranches.

The clarification came after various social media posts circulated online on the alleged implementation of a third tranche of SAP.

The DSWD explained that there is an ongoing payout for the Emergency Subsidy Program (ESP) which is a provision of Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2.

However, Bayanihan 2 ESP is not SAP or is not a continuation of SAP 1 and 2 because it has different beneficiaries.

The Bayanihan 2 ESP is a one-time cash grant of P5,000 to P8,000 which is being distributed to low income family beneficiaries who are physically residing in areas placed under granular lockdown from the date of effectivity of the Bayanihan 2 on September 14, 2020 as certified by the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force; additional low-income families who have not received SAP; and families of Overseas Filipino Workers who were deported or who arrived in the country from September 14 to December 19, 2020, provided that they are undocumented or displaced from their jobs abroad; and, qualified low income family beneficiaries who may not be under granular lockdown but were not included in the list submitted to DSWD during the implementation of SAP under Bayanihan 1.

As of December 19, there are 145,025 beneficiaries who received their emergency subsidy under Bayanihan 2. Of whom, 13,607 are from granular lockdown areas, while 131,418 are additional beneficiaries. The total subsidy distributed to the qualified beneficiaries reached more than P946 million.

The Department will continue to issue advisories on social media and other official communication channels to alert netizens on the proliferation of fake news on SAP, ESP, and other government programs. #