Storm survivors to receive educational assistance

By Apipa P. Bagumbaran

Tuesday 24th of July 2012

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, July 24 (PIA) -- Three hundred twenty-three students here who belong to families affected by tropical storm Sendong will soon receive cash assistance for their educational needs.

The educational assistance will focus on families who are included in the master list of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), regardless of the number of students they have.

A family may receive a minimum of P1,000 and a maximum of P3,000, depending on the family needs, as assessed by the department’s social workers.

The DSWD Field Office-10, however, clarified that the assistance came from Congressman Rufus Rodriguez of the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro who requested the DSWD an amount of P10,000,000 for the said program. DSWD-10 in turn used its Regional Trust Fund as a response to the congressional district’s request.

It further clarified that it is obliged to accommodate only a number of beneficiaries, prioritizing those families with higher degree of needs because of the program’s limited budget.

“As much as we want to accommodate all the surviving families, because of the limited budget, we can only provide cash assistance to only a few who are assessed as qualified for the program,” said Rosemarie P. Conde, chief of operations and programs division of the DSWD-10.

To avail of the said assistance, families are required to present a photocopy of their family access card and certification of enrolment issued by the schools where their students are attending at, for the social workers’ validation purposes at the DSWD field office.(Charmaine P. Tadlas-DSWD-10/APB-PIA-10)