Quezon City - From January to September this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has extended aid to nearly 3.8 million individuals nationwide through its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program. The initiative offers support in the form of educational, medical, transportation, burial, and food assistance to Filipinos in need.
According to Philippines News Agency, who made the announcement in a news release on Wednesday, a total of 3,799,979 individuals received assistance from AICS at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City and in various regions across the country. Lopez described the AICS program as a crucial lifeline, providing diverse forms of support to individuals and families grappling with crises.
The report detailed that the most requested form of aid was psychosocial support, assisting over 1.7 million clients. This was followed by food and medical aid, which helped over 1.4 million and 1.1 million clients respectively. Lopez highlighted that the number of individuals assisted by the DSWD surpasses the actual number of clients served, as individuals can avail more than one type of assistance under the AICS program every three months.
Lopez attributed the increase in the number of clients served to the streamlined process initiated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., as outlined in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2022. Following this directive, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian instructed department officials to bring the AICS program closer to its clients, resulting in the establishment of satellite offices in various cities.
On a related note, DSWD Undersecretary for Innovations Edu Punay announced during a recent appearance on PTV 4's Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon that 761,150 households will remain enlisted in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). This decision follows a reassessment of beneficiaries in line with Gatchalian’s directive, identifying these households as still in need of assistance under the 4Ps program.
Punay explained that the retention of these households is primarily due to the lingering effects of the pandemic. The 761,150 households were initially part of the 1.1 million households deemed non-poor under the Listahanan 3 of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR). Of these, 339,660 households were assessed as Level 3 or self-sufficient and recommended for graduation from the program.
Punay assured that those graduating from the 4Ps program will continue to receive support from the government through endorsements to local government units and access to various assistance programs, including the Sustainable Livelihood Program. The 4Ps program serves as the national poverty reduction strategy of the Philippines, aiming to improve health, nutrition, education, and socio-economic conditions of qualified household-beneficiaries through conditional cash transfers and complementary support services.