The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday distributed PHP16 million to students, teachers and other sectors in Negros Oriental under the Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

The target beneficiaries included 2,000 members of Parents and Teachers Associations (PTAs) and 2,000 students of Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) here, according to John Michael Rollorata, alternate Social Welfare and Development team leader of DSWD-Region 7 (Central Visayas).

“The PTA members will be given PHP3,000 each while the students will receive PHP 5,000 each in outright cash,” Rollorata said in an interview.

The payout for the PTA members, some of them senior citizens or with disabilities and special needs, was held at Macias Sports Center here.

The assistance distribution for students was held at the NORSU main campus in this capital city.

Retired teacher Raymunda Visagas, 61, from Barangay Pantao in Mabinay town expressed gratitude to the government for the AICS, saying it was “unexpected” because being a PTA officer is voluntary and without compensation.

Visagas said it was the first time that she received government financial assistance.

“We are thankful to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. because in the past, we have never experienced this, and many do not want to be part of the PTA since it is voluntary and can be an added burden to them,” she said in the vernacular.

Gomer Areglado, president of the Dr. Ernesto Uy National High School PTA in Barangay Lumbangan, Mabinay, hopes that the government will continue to provide assistance to parents so they can keep sending their children to school.

Areglado, 57, a retired employee of a private company, said the financial assistance will go a long way in helping them over in their day-to-day activities. (PNA)