QUESTION: Can a beneficiary under the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) Program also receive

benefits under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP)?

YES,​ those who are under the SBWS Program may also be part of the benefits under DSWD SAP.

The Small Business Wage Subsidy Program, is a wage subsidy for affected employees of small businesses
that are forced to stop operations, i.e. temporary closure or suspension of work (Category A); and that
are allowed to operate a skeleton force (Category B or quasi-essentials).

The SAP consists of cash and in-kind subsidies to provide the basic needs of the affected individuals and
communities during and after the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine per
DSWD-DOLE-DTI-DA-DOF-DBM-DILG Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 series of 2020.

If the recipient of the SBWS program belongs to a family that qualifies for the SAP, then both
benefits may be received. However, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista encourages recipients to avail
only of one cash aid scheme.

The Government said that the target beneficiaries of SAP are families that belong to the poor or
informal sector who are at risk of not earning during the ECQ, those who may have at least one (1)
member belonging to any of the following sectors, per Item 5.7, DSWD-DOLE-DTI-DA-DOF-DBM-DILG
Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2020 :

a. Senior citizens or those aged 60 and above;

b. Persons with Disability;

c. Pregnant and Lactating Women;

d. Solo parents;

e. Overseas Filipinos (OFs) in Distress. They shall refer to OFs who were repatriated or
banned from traveling outside the Philippines on account of the COVID-19 breakout,
from January 2020 until the lifting of the community quarantine;

f. Indigent Indigenous Peoples or those certified as poor by the National Household

Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or the subject Field Office of the DSWD or
those who are living 7 in recognized ancestral domains whose income solely depend on
subsistence economy as those engaged in indigenous means of livelihood as hunting,
gathering or foraging as certified by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples or
tribal chieftain/council of elders or those who are informal economy workers;

g. Underprivileged Sector and Homeless Citizens, or individuals or families residing in

urban, urbanizable and rural areas whose income or combined family income falls within
the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority
or those who do not own housing facilities. This shall also include those who live in
makeshift dwelling units and do not enjoy security of tenure; or
 h. Informal economy workers, including independent, self-employed, and small-scale
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producers and distributors of goods and services.

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Item 5.7, DSWD Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2020