Philippines Begins Expanded UPLIFT Cash Aid Distribution Amid Rising Fuel Prices

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced on Saturday that the distribution of cash aid from the expanded United Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) program will begin on Monday. "Monday, we will begin distributing this uplift assistance to our fellow citizens. This covers 7.5 million households, with 3.5 million of them drawn from the databases of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Walang Gutom Program," said DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB. "Another 2.5 million households will come from the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System; these are the impoverished families included in the Philippine Statistics Authority's list. The third group consists of 1.5 million workers who are SSS members with a monthly salary credit of P20,000 and below," she added. Beneficiary categories: Group 1 beneficiaries refer to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Walang Gutom Program members who will receive a one-time additional assistance of up to P2,000. They comprise 3.5 million households. Group 2 beneficiaries are poor households that are not 4Ps members, and refer to 'near-poor' households that are just slightly above or 25% above the poverty line. They comprise 2.5 million households. Group 3 beneficiaries, meanwhile, are SSS members whose monthly salary credit is P20,000 and below. They comprise 1.5 million households. DSWD said that Groups 2 and 3 beneficiaries are set to receive P2,000 in the next six months, or until December 2026. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday announced that it has expanded the UPLIFT amid the rising fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict. The DSWD, meanwhile, said the expanded UPLIFT program it will also cover tax-paying near-poor earners and not just the poorest. According to the DSWD, the value of the P2,000-cash aid was determined based on the Asian Development Bank's fuel energy emergency simulation and the department's own simulation conducted with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).