The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed PHP510,750 financial aid to 10 recipient families of Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) program in the bid to support them during their transition period.

Each family received the transitory support package of PHP10,000 to PHP70,000.

The amount varies depending on the result of need assessment done by DSWD and local government units for each beneficiary, said Jonna Marquez-Ranes, DSWD Region 8 information officer in a phone interview Thursday.

These recipients are from the towns of Alangalang, Barugo, Burauen, Calubian, Leyte, Mayorga, MacArthur, and Tabango, all in Leyte province.

They arrived at the Tacloban Airport on May 28 when the government resumed the BP2 implementation.

The DSWD and local governments held simultaneous turnover rites on June 15.

“The cash assistance is given to the family beneficiaries to support their food and other basic needs during their transition period in their hometowns,” the DSWD stated.

The DSWD may also provide livelihood settlement grants, and transitory shelter assistance if the family beneficiaries do not have homes and relatives in their hometown.

All returning residents listed by the BP2 program will receive the transitory support package, according to Ranes.

The beneficiaries arrived in batches on May 28 and June 4 through BP2, an initiative meant to decongest the National Capital Region and create more economic opportunities in the countryside.

Institutionalized under Executive Order 114, series of 2020, the BP2 program is an initiative of the national government created to address the congestion in Metro Manila’s urban areas.

The program encourages the public, especially those in informal settlements, to return to their home provinces and guide them throughout this transition by providing additional support and incentives on transportation, livelihood, family needs, subsistence, education, housing, and others. (PNA)