At least 13,270 household beneficiaries of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in this town received their cash assistance from April 9-13, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said.

Alicia town, which has three recovered positive coronavirus disease 2019 (CoVid-19) cases, was the first local government unit to receive funding for the implementation of SAP in Isabela.

The DSWD field office has given funding to 59 out of the 93 LGUs in the region, with more to follow in the coming days, said Lucia Alan, assistant regional director of the agency.

Listed as SAP beneficiaries in Cagayan Valley Region are at least 586,675 households, not including the 106,122 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), who already received their share of the amelioration package.

Of the total number, 5,958 target beneficiaries are in Batanes province, 199,683 for Cagayan, 269,987 for Isabela, 80,903 for Nueva Vizcaya and 30,144 for Quirino were listed.

“Each qualified beneficiary will receive an amount not exceeding PHP5,500 per month. The SAP under the DSWD shall be given in two tranches, one in April and another in May,” Alan said.

Other response operations of the field office to the current health crisis include the distribution of food and nonfood items to LGUs with depleted supplies.

Field office staff continue repacking food items to add to the existing stockpile, ready for augmentation to partner LGUs, Alan said. (PNA)