KORONADAL CITY— The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) urged Thursday its beneficiaries affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic across the region to register in the mobile app “ReliefAgad” which was created to fast track the distribution of state’s financial assistance.
Cezario Joel Espejo, DSWD-12 regional director, explained the app launched by the agency and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) late last month, that aside from expediting the distribution of government cash aid to residents severely affected by lockdown, it can also be used to ease other future transactions.
The App’s maker, Developers Connect Philippines (DEVCON), a group of information technology experts, specifically created the App to lessen the manual encoding of Social Amelioration Program (SAP) forms by the local government units (LGUs).
Moreover, it will cut the time to verify if a certain family is qualified or not for the financial assistance since it will need to scan the barcode of the beneficiary’s SAC forms.
Dir. Espejo made the appeal amid the upcoming distribution of waitlisted SAP beneficiaries who are qualified but were not able to get the cash aid during the first tranche.
“Let’s see the advantage on our side. The intention really is to encourage beneficiaries to open transaction accounts or activate the normal accounts before signing to ReliefAgad,” Dir. Espejo said, adding by signing in with the App users can also use it in paying other bills.
To use the app, the beneficiary should input his/her information as they would through a physical form of the social amelioration card (SAC). The beneficiary, using his/her mobile phone, will then register to the ReliefAgad app website found at www.reliefagad.ph.
Using the app, the beneficiary must scan the bar code found on the form. He/she will then register his/her information that is needed, as well as those of his/her household members.
Once the application is approved, the beneficiary will then be asked what is the preferred method of payment, whether cash that will be distributed by Department of Interior and Local Government, DSWD, or either GCash or PayMaya.
Regionwide, more than 100,000 families are included on DSWD’s database qualified to receive SAP assistance based on the lists submitted by the LGUs, according to Mr. Espejo.
“We need to finish the payouts for the waitlisted beneficiaries before the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act expires on June 25,” Dir. Espejo said as he clarified that families that were able to get SAP cash aid in the first tranche will not be included in the distribution since the region is now declared Modified General Community Quarantine.
The RA 11469 was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 25, 2020 to ease the effects of lockdown imposed by authorities as part of hard-line measures to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic. (DSWD)
Meanwhile, below is the process to register with ReliefAgad App.
Step 1. Gamit ang inyong smartphone, pumunta sa www.reliefagad.ph website
Step 2. I-scan ang barcode na makikita sa ibaba ng inyong SAC form
Step 3. Kung hindi ma-scan ang barcode, mano-manong ipasok ang numero ng barcode sa app
Step 4. I-enter ang inyong personal na impormasyon
Step 5. I-enter ang miyembro ng inyong pamilya
Step 6. Piliin kung papano ninyo gusto matanggap ang cash assistance. (Tip). Kung pipiliin ang PayMaya, Gcash o bank account, direktang matatanggap ninyo ang cash assistance sa inyong account
Step 7. I-enter ang One Time Pin na matatanggap ninyo sa text message
Step 8. I-click ang submit