INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año late Monday night said 50 barangay captains around the country have been charged before the Office of the Ombudsman and will be placed under preventive suspension over alleged irregularities in the implementation of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
Año, during a meeting with select members of the Cabinet and the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) convened by President Duterte in Davao City, said he expects the suspension orders to come out within the week after the administrative charges were filed with the Ombudsman’s office.
Año said the barangay captains included 13 from the National Capital Region (NCR), 13 from Region 1 (Ilocos region), 10 from Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), three from Region 3 (Central Luzon), and 11 from Region 4-A (Calabarzon).
He said a total of 155 complaints were received by the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that accused the barangay leaders of supposed malversation of funds, corruption, estafa, and other graft-related anomalies in connection with the distribution of the first tranche of the SAP.
President Duterte had repeatedly said that he will not tolerate corruption in his administration and that he would not be lenient on those who engage in corrupt activities.
The government had distributed in April more than P100 billion in emergency cash subsidy under SAP that benefitted more than 18 million low income families adversely affected by strict lockdowns that were implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The distribution for the second tranche of SAP is still ongoing and has so far benefited 12.1 million poor families or 86 percent of the targeted 14.1 million beneficiaries, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.
DSWD undersecretary Rene Glen Paje said P73.7 billion had already been distributed under the SAP 2 which the department hopes to complete by the second week of the month.
He said the distribution of the P5,000 to P8,000 subsidy through digital and manual payout continues to be implemented even in areas under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
Paje said under the DSWD has had received P3.6 billion in refunds from the April payout which were either due to duplication, ineligibility or excess unexpended fund transfers.
He said 7,931 beneficiaries nationwide had returned P49 million; 547 local government units returned P1.2 billion, disbursement officers gave back P66.4 million, while financial service providers refunded P1.3 billion.
He said the DSWD is coordinating with the economic managers if the fund would be remitted to the Bureau of Treasury or could be used to fund other aid programs of the agency, like the assistance to individuals in crisis who could use the money for medical and funeral needs in connection with COVID-19, among others.
