DSWD sets guidelines on family rice access cards

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will distribute family access cards only to verified poor residents that have been identified as beneficiaries of the cheaper rice program of the National Food Authority (NFA)  in Metro Manila.

DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral told reporters during a meeting with Metro Manila officials last Monday at the Bulwagang Amoranto at the Quezon City Hall that the issuance of family access cards will depend on the status of the family.

The access cards will be given only to beneficiaries whose aggregate monthly income is P5,000 for a family with five  members. The beneficiaries will be entitled to buy two kilos of the rice daily at P18.25 per kilo day.

Local government units (LGUs) were tasked to identify the beneficiaries of the cheap rice program.

DSWD Undersecretary Cecila Yangco said the government has to make sure that the census of poor families is correct or the access cards will be wasted.

Poverty mapping comes next after the identification process, then the validation by the DSWD. Once the collected data is assessed, the access card will be issued to the beneficiaries.

Only after determining the census of poor families per city will the DSWD release the access cards to be distributed by the local government units.

The access cards have a designated color for each city and have a 16-digit bar code for security and validation purposes. Cabral said that the cards are only to be used when there is a rice crisis. There are also specific places and zones in which the beneficiaries can use the access cards.

Cabral says that the department would seek an extension of the Tuesday deadline given to the LGUs submit at least 30 percent of the beneficiaries after most of the local officials in Metro Manila failed to meet the deadline set by President Arroyo.

“Well, the President gave us two weeks, but that two weeks is up tomorrow. Obviously we are not going to meet that deadline because our reports from the LGUs is incomplete,” said Cabral.

She said that many cities have not submitted any report while a few have given a partial list. For instance, Quezon City has given 50 percent, while Pateros and San Juan have achieved 70 percent.

The DSWD reported an increase in the number of families living below the poverty threshold in at least three local government units in Metro Manila as the targeted family beneficiaries of the direct distribution of cheap NFA rice has reached more than 700,000.

A report furnished by the DSWD to Malacañang revealed that Malabon, Navotas and Pateros showed increases in the number of family beneficiaries “indicating that more families are living below the poverty threshold and/or earning below P5,000 monthly.”

Based on the assessment process conducted at the barangay level, the DSWD disclosed that there were 3,369 family beneficiaries in Malabon, 8,956 in Navotas and 992 in Pateros.

As of Monday, a total of 71,501 families or 10 percent of the total target have been identified.

The DSWD is targeting 789 barangays from the 16 cities and one municipality of Metro Manila or 706,939 families.

Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos said that the identification of the beneficiaries is very complicated and would take longer than two weeks to complete.

Abalos said that there are an estimated 30,000 families identified as beneficiaries in Mandaluyong.

Meanwhile, Cabral is asking critics of the Ahon Pamilyang Pilipino (APP) program to first make proper inquiries about the financial assistance program before criticizing it.

Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual earlier said that the Arroyo administration should not give dole outs to poor families that could make them dependent to the government. Instead, the government should make them self-sufficient by offering livelihood programs. “Well, it’s not a dole out and we are inviting them to come and look at the program in detail so that they will understand the program before they make any comment,” said Cabral.

She said the APP is a conditional cash transfer program, wherein a family could receive between P5 to P1,400 a month. It is being implemented in the 20 poorest provinces in the country as well as in Metro Manila.

Mrs. Arroyo has reportedly allocated P5 billion for the program that would be distributed among 300,000 families for one year.

She explained that the money would not be given out free. They have set conditions for every family to comply otherwise they would be dropped from the list.

Parents have to bring their children to the health centers and make sure that their children have an 85 percent attendance in school before they can avail of the fund.

The Manila government will prioritize residents of slum areas in the distribution of NFA rice.

Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno said the Manila Social Welfare Department headed by Celerina Sangil will identify the beneficiaries.

Sangil said their department had set the standard for poverty mapping with the help of the Manila Barangay Bureau which identifies the families that should be given priority.

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) criticized the plan of the Arroyo administration to cut the subsidy for imported rice that will harm the local rice industry and the Filipino people.

Rafael Mariano, chairman of KMP and concurrent president of ANAKPAWIS party list, said Malacañang and the Department of Agriculture (DA) should increase subsidy for the procurement of local palay and rice.

Meanwhile, a team of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) recovered almost two metric tons of rice believed to be from the NFA after the government rice was repackaged and sold as commercial rice in Zamboanga Sibugay province.   – With Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy, Irene Amador, Karla Versonilla, Katherine Adraneda, Sabdy Araneta, Roel Pareño