The Department of Education (DepEd) assured that steps are underway to fast-track the release of the second tranche of financial assistance from the President’s Social Fund (PSF) for employee-beneficiaries with damaged houses in areas heavily hit by typhoon “Yolanda” and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol.

The second tranche of funds is the remaining financial assistance not yet provided to beneficiaries following the release of the first tranche by the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) to DepEd in July 2015 for Batch 1, and February 2016 for Batch 2.

Batch 1 is composed of 29,665 DepEd beneficiaries, while Batch 2 consists of 15,687 DepEd beneficiaries. The amount of assistance is P30,000 for those with partially damaged houses, and P100,000 for those with totally damaged houses.

Regions and divisions must first fully liquidate the first tranche provided to 29,665 and 15,687 beneficiaries in Batch 1 and Batch 2, respectively. Upon full liquidation, the PMS will conduct financial and physical evaluation (FPPE). If there is favorable result from the evaluation, the PMS shall recommend for the approval of the release of the second tranche to the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Office of the President.

The DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS) has expressed commitment to hasten the release of funds through consistent monitoring of status of liquidation from regions and divisions.

The deadline of submission of liquidation documents for Batch 1 is on December 9, 2016, while for Batch 2 is on January 20, 2017. A DepEd Memorandum is slated to be released this week for further instruction.