MALASIQUI, July 20 -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Ilocos Region (DSWD-1) began distributing cash relief assistance on Monday for the Expanded Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) program in three localities across Pangasinan and La Union provinces.

The initial number of beneficiaries included 978 households in San Fabian and 770 in Urdaneta City, both in Pangasinan, and 113 in Balaoan, La Union, who each received PHP2,000.

In La Union, there are 5,469 household beneficiaries for this program, and 54,022 in Pangasinan.

DSWD-1 Regional Director Marie Angela Gopalan, in an interview, said the beneficiaries are part of the poor and near-poor (those 25 percent above the poverty thre...