QUEZON CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) urged the public to be extra vigilant in engaging with any group or organization, following the recent incident that happened during a payout activity for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) involving an allegedly ‘fraudulent’ senior citizens’ and persons’ with disability organization.

Based on the information received by the Department’s Crisis Intervention Division, which conducted the payout, the group is recruiting members and is requiring them to pay for the identification card worth P350 pesos as an assurance to receive financial assistance from the Department through the AICS.

The Department explained that senior citizens or persons with disability cards are not for sale and do not guarantee the availment of financial assistance.  The Department emphasized that it is implementing screening and verification procedures, based on the DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 11 series of 2019 as amended by Memorandum Circular No. 24, series of 2020, during payouts to ensure the eligibility of possible beneficiaries of the program.

Through this protocol, the DSWD will be able to verify the legitimacy of the documents presented by clients while social workers will be able to conduct assessment in order to recommend appropriate amounts of assistance to be given to them, depending on their needs.

Furthermore, the DSWD reminded all sectors that programs and services of the Department can be availed of whether one is a member of an organization or not based on assessment.

The DSWD called on the public to report similar incidents to the Department through (028) 931-81010 to 07 or to any DSWD Field Office nationwide. (DSWD)