The Department of Social Welfare and Development on Wednesday said it has started the distribution of emergency cash transfer (ECT) to families affected by the shear line and the trough of a low pressure area (LPA) that hit Davao Region in January through its Field Office-11 (Davao Region).

DSWD Asst. Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez, said the DSWD Davao Field Office held a payout in Tarragona town in Davao Oriental on 4 March.

Lopez who is also the DSWD spokesperson said the Field Office will conduct a series of ECT payout to 145,695 disaster-affected families in the whole Davao Region in the first semester of this year.

According to him, the Department has allotted more than P1.4 billion for the emergency cash aid that will be given to families in the provinces of Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental.

“Each beneficiary will receive P9,960, equivalent to approximately 75 percent of their current regional minimum wage rate for 30 days. This cash aid will greatly help our affected kababayans to recover from the disasters that affected their lives and livelihood,” the DSWD official pointed out.

A total of 70,000 beneficiaries from the municipalities of Asuncion, Braulio E. Dujali, Carmen, Kapalong, New Corella, Panabo City, Santo Tomas, and Tagum City in Davao del Norte will receive the ECT assistance.

In Davao Oriental, some 75,695 from the towns of Baganga, Banaybanay, Boston, Caraga, Gov. Generoso, Lupon, Manay, Mati City, San Isidro, and Tarragona are expected to receive their cash aid from March to end of June.

The ECT is an adaptive strategy for bridging the gaps between immediate disaster relief, humanitarian response, and early recovery support through outright cash aid for disaster-affected families in areas under a state of calamity.