The Social Security System (SSS) is expanding the list of low-wage earners who will receive assistance under the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in an interview with Bombo Radyo Iloilo published on October 6.
Gatchalian said the wider list means more time is needed to identify the newly qualified beneficiaries and activate their basic deposit accounts. He said the new beneficiaries will be notified through the MySSS application and urged them to update their records and other requirements.
UPLIFT’s cash aid is the government’s response to higher fuel prices during the national energy emergency. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the expanded aid on July 16, targeting 7.5 million households. The Department of Budget and Management has released ₱12.375 billion for it, according to Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro.
The DSWD divides beneficiaries into three groups. Members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Walang Gutom Program receive a one-time ₱2,000. Poor and near-poor households, and qualified low-wage earners, receive ₱2,000 every month for six months. For low-wage earners, that runs from July to December 2026, or ₱12,000 in total.
Who is in the SSS group
The SSS group is Group 3. Beneficiaries must be employed, have a monthly salary credit below ₱20,000, and have paid at least one SSS contribution in 2025 or 2026. They must also have an active SSS disbursement account.
Beneficiaries were identified by matching SSS records with the 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) database. Where two or more qualified SSS members belong to the same household in CBMS records, only the oldest member receives the aid.
The DSWD reported on August 3 that more than 978,000 Group 3 households had received their July aid. The DSWD said that figure covered members who already had registered disbursement accounts. The agency said the SSS had told it some low-income earners still lacked such accounts.
The DSWD has said no application is needed because beneficiaries are already identified. It has also said the aid does not come from members’ SSS contributions; the national government funds it through the DSWD.
How members are notified
The SSS said beneficiaries are notified only through the My.SSS member portal, not through text messages, calls or visits. SSS encouraged members to keep their email addresses, mobile numbers and disbursement accounts updated through the My.SSS portal.
The reports reviewed for this article do not say how many workers are being added under Gatchalian’s latest statement. They also do not say whether the expansion refers to members who have yet to receive aid. Tech Pilipinas has not independently confirmed these details with the DSWD or the SSS.
