The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has made available to the region PHP26 million for assistance to individuals in crisis situation (AICS), specific to educational assistance for the Sept. 17 and 24 payouts, the agency’s regional information officer said on Friday.

“The distribution is subject to availability of funds. We will also follow our no walk-in policy,” Lawyer May Rago-Castillo said in an interview.

The payout of educational assistance on Sept. 17 will only accommodate 5,000 students in crisis in selected payout centers regionwide.

Some 591,744 applications for the assistance were received by the regional office as of Sept. 7, of which 43,820 were cross-matched while cross-matching is still ongoing for the remaining 547,924.

Of the cross-matched, 6,936 were found ineligible for the payout due to being members of families enrolled with the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, were already paid, or there was a duplication in registration.

About 12,065 have been served while 16,000 are for assessment and payout.

Castillo said during the payout, they would no longer accept applications via drop boxes while the portal for the online application was already closed on September 7.

On Wednesday, the regional office announced the suspension of the last two payouts this September since their funds have been depleted.

The DSWD has allocated PHP91 million for the assistance while an additional PHP10 million was augmented from their AICS regular fund for the previous payouts that catered to a total of 36,131 students-in-crisis in Western Visayas. (PNA)