President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday led the distribution of P8.1 million in emergency cash aid to families in La Union who were severely affected by last July’s typhoon and enhanced southwest monsoon.
The distribution, held at the Speaker Pro Tempore Francisco I. Ortega Convention Center in San Fernando City, was part of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) program. Each qualified beneficiary received P10,179 in assistance.
According to the DSWD, 800 of the 1,612 eligible households in San Fernando City have already received the ECT grant sourced from the agency’s Quick Response Fund (QRF). The remaining beneficiaries are expected to get their aid in the coming weeks.
The amount of assistance was computed based on 75 percent of the Ilocos Region’s minimum wage rate of P468 per day, multiplied by 29 days—the estimated duration of the disaster’s impact.
Priority was given to households with senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and pregnant women. In addition to cash aid, beneficiaries were also provided with family food packs.
Typhoon Emong, which intensified the southwest monsoon in July, caused widespread damage in the Ilocos Region, particularly in La Union and Pangasinan. Reports from DSWD Field Office 1 recorded over 179,000 affected families in La Union alone, with 3,332 houses completely destroyed. Of these, 1,612 were in San Fernando City.
The ECT program provides unconditional cash assistance to disaster-hit families to help them meet urgent needs, recover from the calamity, and repair damaged homes.
