CABANATUAN CITY (PIA) — For 72-year-old Milagros Bautista of Barangay Bitas, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, the ₱2,000 she received under the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) Assistance may seem small to others, but for her family, it goes a long way in helping meet their daily needs.
Bautista is one of the 1,946 identified beneficiaries of the program, as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in collaboration with partner agencies and the local government unit, began the distribution of financial aid in the city.
The UPLIFT Assistance was launched by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as an immediate government intervention aimed at protecting the livelihoods of Filipinos and strengthening the country’s economy.
To ensure that assistance reaches the intended beneficiaries, the DSWD has identified three groups of recipients.
Group 1 includes households under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Walang Gutom Program; Group 2 covers poor and near-poor households whose income falls within 25 percent above the poverty threshold based on the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development; and Group 3 includes low-income workers and their families identified by the Social Security System (SSS).
Under the program guidelines, Group 1 beneficiaries receive a one-time ₱2,000 cash grant, while those under Groups 2 and 3 receive ₱2,000 per household monthly from July to December 2026.
For the payout, 4Ps households receive the one-time assistance through their LANDBANK accounts, while Walang Gutom Program beneficiaries receive the grant through a manual payout.
Group 2 beneficiaries receive their first payout manually, with succeeding monthly payouts made digitally through a preferred bank account or e-wallet.
Meanwhile, Group 3 beneficiaries receive the assistance through their enrolled SSS disbursement accounts.
Cabanatuan City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) Head Helen Bagasao clarified that beneficiaries do not need to submit a manual application for the UPLIFT Assistance, as qualified recipients are automatically identified based on the program’s eligibility criteria.
She added that the DSWD, in coordination with the CSWDO, verifies beneficiary information before endorsing it to the barangays, which then notify qualified residents of their eligibility to receive the assistance.
For families like Bautista’s, the assistance provides additional help in meeting their daily needs.
Bautista and other beneficiaries in Cabanatuan City expressed their gratitude to the Marcos administration, while hoping that similar government programs would continue to support families in need. (CLJD/MAECR, PIA Region 3-Nueva Ecija)
