Bacolod City – The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office has designated six venues outside Bacolod City to serve as the educational assistance payout centers, in order avoid the influx of students and parents in the next week of scheduled distribution.
Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Merle Garcia said the payout venue in the 1st District of Negros Occidental will be in San Carlos City – Philippine Normal University (PNU), in Cadiz City for the 2nd district, Silay City for the 3rd district, Bago City for the 4th district, Himamaylan City for the 5th district and Kabankalan City for the 6th district recipients.
The DSWD requires applicants may fill out an online form at https://bit.ly/dswdfo6EducAssistance; scan a QR code, or send an email to dswd.educassistance@gmail.com.
Only clients who will receive a message from DWSD will be prioritized in the payouts, Garcia said.
Those who were able to register for the QR code, but fails to receive a message from DWSD regional office, need not go to the payout site, and should instead wait for their schedule, she added.
Garcia stressed that they will not entertain walk-in clients.
About 7,000 reportedly lined up outside the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in Bacolod City on Saturday, August 20, for the initial payout, with some started queueing as early as Friday night, Aug 19.
However, only 587 indigent students in Negros Occidental and highly urbanized Bacolod City received cash assistance amounting to ₱ 2.203 million.
Chaos ensued after the local DSWD office announced that only 600 beneficiaries from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental will be accommodated on the first day of the cash payout.
The schedule for next cash distribution is on September 3, 10, 17 and 24.
A total of ₱ 20.7 million in educational assistance for students in crisis in Western Visayas were initially released to 5,144 beneficiaries. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)