DSWD-7 Gives Free Meds, Cash Grants, Trainings under Lingap sa Masa

More than a thousand indigent people in the region accessed free medicine through the Libreng Gamot Para Sa Masa or LINGAP SA MASA Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region-7.

Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) Cebu Team Leader Timotea Gadapan said that 1,656 patients were admitted at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) up to P75,000 worth of medicines per patient as of July 25, 2017.

LINGAP sa Masa, which began in Februray, has a budget of P121 million, of which P 18.7 million or 15 percent have already been distributed in Region 7, said Gadapan.

She added that they only issue a guarantee letter so there is no cash released to the patient.

The requirements are one valid ID, the drug prescription with the doctor’s signature, license number and contact number, and the certificate of indigency from the barangay.

Additional cash grants

Meanwhile in Central Visayas, more than P500 million was funded for 400,000 beneficiaries under the Pantawid PamilyangPlipino Program (4Ps) from December 2016 to February 2017.

Pantawid Pamilya Bohol Grievance Officer Joan Florabal Felicio shared during the recent Kapihan Sa PIA at Richmond Hotel that an additional cash grant of P600 was also added to the monthly rice subsidy per family.

Each family can receive up to P2000 per month.

More than half of the beneficiaries that are active and compliant comes from the Cebu Province with 221, 810 households followed by Bohol with 44,176 andSiquijorwith 10,355.

Felicio also stated that around 40,000 households are becoming self-sufficient with the help of the 4Ps.

Community-driven projects and trainings

Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) National Community-Driven Development Project (NCDDP) is also of DSWD’s major projects with a budget of P3 billion.

Under KALAHI-CIDSS, there are 2,549 sub-projects in 74 municipalities across Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor.

Each municipality can receive at most P20 million per year depending on the number of barangays, poverty incidents, and other factors.

KALAHI-CIDSS Community Development Officer Karl Arbon explained that KALAHI empowers from the grassroots level through free trainings, capacity building, strengthening communities and improving local governance.

“KALAHI is a process. The project [resulting from it] is a bonus,” he added.

He emphasized that the KALAHI gives voice to the people so they can choose and that members of the 4Ps are encouraged to be a part of it since they can convene to discuss the problems and interventions needed. (jsme/PIA-7-Cebu/asv)