During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on June 11, DSWD-10 Regional Director Ramel F. Jamen provided updates on the first payout for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program. The program simultaneously launched nationwide on May 18 and provided 17,222 minimum wage earners with a total of P51.6 million, or P3,000 each (Photo: DCC/PIA-10)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) extended help to more than 17,000 minimum wage earners here a cash assistance worth P51.6 million through the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) in Northern Mindanao.
DSWD-10 Regional Director Ramel Jamen said this government initiative provides financial assistance to minimum wage earners and low-income workers earning P438 per day or less.
Due to inflation and the rapid increase in prices of basic commodities, Jamen said this was a definitive factor in the creation of the AKAP, “Kay nakita nato nga kung duna’y increase sa gasolina, kini sila ang apektado kay mu-increase man pud ang presyo sa palaliton. Wala man mudako ilang kita, kinahanglan sila ayudahan.”
(Because we see that if there is an increase in the price of gasoline, minimum wage earners are the ones who get easily affected because the prices of basic commodities will also increase. Their income doesn’t increase, which is why they need assistance.)
Jamen said further that these workers are also contributors to the economy because their income has a tax component, but for the longest time, they have not been given special attention.
“AKAP is on-going; as of the moment, 20 percent pa ang utilization, dako pa ang panahon June to December, we can still provide this assistance to those eligible and qualified minimum wage earners sa atong region,” Jamen said.
(Only 20 percent of the funds utilized in the ongoing AKAP are currently in use. There is still time from June to December, and we can still provide this assistance to those eligible and qualified minimum wage earners in the region.)
Media practitioner Sean Sulugan said that, for his part, this would be beneficial for low-income earners like him, “Akong salary sa karon, P8,000 lang. Naa koy sideline, magsulat, pero naa lang sa P1,400 per month.”
(My salary is only P8,000. I have a side job, writing, but it is just P1,400 per month.)
Sulugan also said that, at 45, he may have a difficult time looking for work with a higher salary.
He said if ever he becomes eligible to be a recipient of AKAP, he will purchase items helpful for his line of work and basic necessities like food and clothing, as well as eyeglasses, as he gets his eyes checked annually.
For his part, DSWD-10 Assistant Regional Director for Operations Ronald Ryan Cui said, “Ang importante lang ana dapat naay certification from your employers that you are a minimum wage earner, you belong to the low income.”
(What is important is that you obtain certification from your employers that you are a minimum wage earner, you belong to the low income category.)
Mark Anthony Viernes, DSWD-10 Crisis Intervention Section head, said that at the moment, the agency does not accept walk-ins; everything is offsite and through pay-outs.
DSWD-10 will conduct validation with authorized bodies such as local social welfare and development offices, barangays, employers, and other government agencies to ensure that beneficiaries are indeed eligible to receive AKAP assistance through certification.
The agency, with the help of various partners, will reach out to the different sectors and associations of minimum wage earners. (SAYU/PIA-10)
