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Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star
April 17, 2026 | 12:00am
“The cash relief assistance being implemented by the DSWD are our emergency scheme to address those mostly affected when the conflict in Middle East started,” DSWD Undersecretary Adonis Sulit said during the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy committee hearing on Monday.
Freeman / File
MANILA, Philippines — While public utility drivers (PUV) are prioritized, other vulnerable sectors affected by the oil crisis – including those from the middle class and minimum wage earners – can avail themselves of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)’s cash relief under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program.
“The cash relief assistance being implemented by the DSWD are our emergency scheme to address those mostly affected when the conflict in Middle East started,” DSWD Undersecretary Adonis Sulit said during the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy committee hearing on Monday.
Asked whether the DSWD’s cash relief assistance is limited only to drivers and if the middle-class, service crews and other minimum wage earners can also avail themselves of the AICS, Sulit said: “The cash assistance being distributed by DSWD is a social protection intervention. Being part of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation, all individuals whether poor or middle income can access this program.”
Sulit said DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has presented the agency’s proposal that there must be at least P6,000 top-up for a household and for an individual level, a top-up of P1,500.
DOLE expands TUPAD
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s TUPAD Tuloy Pasada rollout is moving beyond assistance to jeepney drivers, expanding the beneficiaries to include paddlers, motorized banca operators and tricycle drivers.
During Wednesday’s Legislative Energy Action Development committee hearing in Congress, DOLE Undersecretary Ernesto Bitonio said the DOLE pulled its response from existing appropriations under its Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program and fixed an initial P1.2 billion for the crisis.
Meanwhile, farmers and fisherfolk will receive a pause in their loan repayments as rising fuel prices weigh on production and operation costs, according to the Department of Agriculture’s credit and financial arm.
Meanwhile, nine out of 10 rank-and-file teachers are earning far below the family living wage, forcing them to rely on loans just to survive, causing them to sink deeper into debt amid the current energy crisis, Alliance of Concerned Teachers chairperson Ruby Bernardo said yesterday. – Josiah Antonio, Bella Cariaso, Adrian Kenneth Halili
