Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 15) — Majority of workers in small businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis have received cash aid, the national government reported on Monday.
President Rodrigo Duterte submitted to the Congress his 12th weekly report on his use of additional powers granted to him to address the COVID-19 crisis.
It said that the Department of Finance, through its Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) Program, has released a total of P44 billion over two months to help workers of small businesses. As of June 11, it said that 3.09 million qualified beneficiaries or 98 percent have received their cash grants during the first tranche of distribution, while 2.96 million or 97 percent of qualified beneficiaries have received the second tranche of wage subsidies.
In the President’s report, it said around 40,000 employees who weren’t able to receive financial assistance in the first tranche are either awaiting confirmation or need to correct their bank accounts or mobile numbers for those who chose to receive their subsidy through PayMaya or MLhuillier Kwarta Padala.
The deadline of payout for both tranches is set on June 17.
Under the SBWS program, qualified employees in small enterprises affected by the lockdown are each entitled to receive P5,000 to P8,000 for two months, depending on the minimum wage in their region.
The government added it is also working to check duplication of subsidies after government data showed that 193,000 out of the 680,000 Labor Department’s COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) recipients — which is intended for displaced workers — also received cash aid through the SBWS.
