A total of 1,400 students from the Zamboanga Peninsula Polytechnic State University (ZPPSU) benefit from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance for Individual in Crisis Situation (AICS) and KALAHI-CIDSS Cash for Work Program with funding support from the Office of Sen. Imee Marcos.

Sen. Marcos together with Mayor John Dalipe and DSWD Regional Director Riduan Hadjimuddin personally distributed the cash assistance to the students at the ZPPSU gymnasium Thursday afternoon, December 14, immediately after a similar distribution at the Zamboanga City State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZCSCMST).

Mayor Dalipe thanked the senator and DSWD anew for the assistance to the ZPPSU students stressing that Zamboanga City has been a recipient of the latter’s generosity and support.

Of the total 1,400 beneficiaries, 1,000 students received educational assistance worth P5K each for a total of P5M, while 401 graduates received their first salary for the month of November under the KALAHI-CIDSS cash for work program for a total of P2,407,285.24.  

The AICS is a program of the DSWD’s Crisis Intervention Unit that offers educational help to students with funding support from the office of Sen. Marcos.

A new group of 1,000 student-beneficiaries from the same school is expected to be identified next year. To claim their cash grant, student-beneficiaries must present a Certificate of Registration from their school and a valid I.D.

Meanwhile, the KALAHI-CIDSS Cash for Work Program (CFWP) for college graduates took effect in Region 9 last November 3, 2023. The intervention offers target beneficiaries a temporary job, for a maximum of 90 days, with 8 hours of work per day, with a salary that is based on the approved regional wage of P351 daily. KALAHI-CIDSS which stands for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is a poverty alleviation program of the National Government implemented by the DSWD.

The 401 graduates-beneficiaries were deployed to the DSWD Regional Office, City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), DepEd Elementary and High Schools within Zamboanga City, and Medical Social Service- Malasakit Centers.

KALAHI-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services) is a poverty alleviation program of the National Government implemented by the DSWD. Also present during the ZPPSU distribution were Vice Mayor Josephine Pareja, 1st District Congressman Khymer Adan Olaso, ZPSSU President Dr. Nelson Cabral, DSWD-9 staff, as well as teachers and staff among others. (Bernadeth Lazaro)