People rushed to the office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) on Friday to avail of the reported release of aid.

Assistant Social Welfare and Development Secretary Romel Lopez, DSWD spokesman, said the release of financial assistance of the agency is on hold and they did not release any announcement for aid distribution and assessment.

"They were saying that they go there for the sustainable livelihood program. The problem is we are not implementing any payout," Lopez said.

Because of the chaos it created, Lopez said the agency is investigating to find out who made the misleading announcement.

"Right now, the DSWD is investigating the announcement about the alleged distribution of assistance which unfortunately misled the people," he said.

"The DSWD is looking at the incident because we received information that they (people) were transported via jeeps and buses," he added.

However, Lopez said those who went to their agency were asked to fill up an application form to find out if they qualify for the program.

"We are apologizing to our people for the confusion, the information that encourage the people to come due to alleged payout or assessment did not come from us. But we asked for their initial information by filling up our forms and then from there if they are qualified, we will call them for the schedule of assessment and the process," he said. Robina Asido/DMS