THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary on Tuesday, August 23, 2022, urged all local government units (LGUs) to extend necessary support to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the distribution of educational financial assistance to qualified beneficiaries under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.DILG Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” C. Abalos Jr. said LGUs must provide manpower support to facilitate an orderly distribution of the financial assistance and provide fixed venues where the distribution of the AICS in the cities and municipalities may be conveniently conducted.“In cases of cities and big municipalities, it is encouraged to have multiple distribution centers to avoid overcrowding of students and their parents,” he said.Abalos issued the directive in response to the request of DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo for LGUs to help facilitate the distribution of the AICS educational cash aid after people came in droves to the DSWD Central and regional offices.“We call on our LGUs to respond proactively to the appeal of DSWD Secretary Tulfo. Hindi naman tayo bago sa mga ganitong pamamahagi ng tulong pinansyal sa ating mga kababayan (We’re not new to the distribution of financial assistance to the public). Let us step up and extend all the help that we can provide for the success of the distribution of financial aid to our students,” he said.Abalos said that according to the memorandum of agreement between the DILG and DSWD, DSWD must coordinate with the LGUs for the conduct of information dissemination on the guidelines, mechanics and schedule for registration of beneficiaries and distribution of assistance.“In this massive undertaking, we look to our LGUs to assist us to be able to send out the AICS to the students who need them the most. Malaking bagay po ito para sa ating mga kababayan kaya naman inaaasahan natin ang tulong ng mga pamahalaang local (It’s a big deal to the beneficiaries so we are hoping for assistance from local governments),” he said.The DILG chief, however, clarified that while LGUs will assist in the distribution of the financial assistance, it will be the DSWD personnel and social workers, not local government personnel or barangays, who will give out the monetary aid.“We have paymasters from DSWD who will turn over the cash aid. The role of the LGU is to assist them,” he said in Tagalog.He said DSWD shall provide the DILG with the list of LGUs where the distribution will be conducted together with the date and time of the distribution.Implemented by the DSWD, the AICS provides various protective services for vulnerable families, including education assistance to help defray the cost of tuition and school expenses.Under this program, elementary students from indigent families will each be provided with P1,000; high school students, P2,000: senior high school students, P3,000; and college students, P4,000.Police support for AICSAbalos also directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to provide police support during the implementation of the AICS to help ensure the orderly, safe and secure transport, delivery and distribution of funds.He said that just like previous “ayuda” distributions, the police would maintain order and ensure the safety of the people during the educational aid distribution.He added that minimum public health standards must also be implemented as much as possible as the country is still battling the Covid-19 pandemic and has tallied three cases of Monkeypox.Abalos likewise encouraged LGUs to continue to implement their best practices in the distribution of financial assistance in terms of crowd management and mode of dissemination such as digital or online payouts.He also reminded beneficiaries to cooperate and adhere to the parameters set by the DILG and DSWD to ensure a more organized distribution of cash aid. (PR)