BAGUIO CITY – 18,048 poor households in the region are expected to benefit from the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program with an annual cash grant amounting to P2, 400.00 for 2018. With the Pantawid Pamilya households and the Social Pensioners, the total UCT beneficiaries for CAR is 147,008.

The addition comes from the validation conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development- Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD-CAR) through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or the Listahanan.

The Listahanan recently validated around 31,392 households to ensure that the beneficiaries of the UCT belong to the poorest in the region. The validated households were subjected to a proxy means test in order to identify those who belong to poor households under the 1st to 7th income deciles in accordance to the TRAIN Law.

The DSWD Field Office is set to notify and to register the household beneficiaries with the Land Bank of the Philippines cash card facility.

“We aim to finish the registration by August and to start giving the assistance to the beneficiaries by September. To have a smooth registration, we ask that the beneficiaries to prepare all the requirements such as three (3) 2×2 ID pictures, proof of identity like any government issued identification card, birth or marriage certificate if available, and the UCT beneficiary notification form which will be given to them by the notifiers.”, DSWD CAR OIC- Regional Director Janet P. Armas said.

“Beneficiaries who lack the required documents would mean non-enrollment in the LBP cash card facility thus the notice should be the basis of the household to secure the needed documents before the scheduled LBP registration”, Armas added.

The NHTS composed of Regional Field Coordinator, Regional Associate Statistician, Regional Information Technology Officer, and Administrative Assistants will serve as the Area Coordinating Team who shall oversee the notification and registration of beneficiaries and provide technical assistance to staff in the provinces.

The government is expected to provide monthly cash grant of P200.00 this year and P300.00 by year 2019-2020 for the existing 62,880 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, 66,080 existing Social Pension beneficiaries, and 18,048 are identified new poor Listahanan households.

The UCT program is part of the national government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. This aims to assist poor Filipinos affected by the rising prices of goods because of the implementation of the tax reform program. # DSWD-CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, Mark Erik King Guanzon