A year after, DSWD still fails to prove P5.32M cash aid to 330 ex-rebels

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THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has failed to submit original documents to prove that cash assistance from the government totaling P5.32 million was actually released to 330 former rebels.

Despite having a full year since being flagged in the 2020 audit report, the DSWD-Field Office 13 (Caraga) was unable to present the original certification of the Joint AFP-PNP Intelligence Committee (JAPIC) and the endorsement from Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) committee required by the Commission on Audit.

The JAPIC certification and the E-CLIP endorsement are the documents required to ascertain that each of the 330 beneficiaries were eligible to receive cash aid.

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In the 2021 report released last July 15, the audit team tagged the agency’s action on the audit item as “Not Implemented.”

This despite assurances made by DSWD-FO13 last year to coordinate with the head of the Crisis Intervention Sections and the Regional Program Coordinator (RPC) of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) to obtain the documents sought by the Commission on Audit (COA).

“The required documents were not yet submitted to the audit team,” auditors said.

Based on the transmittal letter on the report, a copy of the 2021 audit was already submitted to the office of former DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista last June 29.

In the previous year’s audit report, auditors said the cash releases were not supported by original documents.

Auditors said the P1.28 million from E-CLIP was only supported by “certified true copies of the enrollment form.” On the other hand, the P4.04 million released under the Livelihood Settlement Grants (LSG) was only backed by photocopies of the JAPIC certification.

The COA had required submission of the original documents attesting that all 330 persons were in fact former rebels and were eligible for inclusion in the program.

Under Administrative Order No. 10 s. 2018, those qualified to receive assistance from E-CLIP are former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) and their immediate family members.

On the other hand, Executive Order No. 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) proposed a whole-of-the-nation approach in attaining peace by ending insurgency.

The EO paved the way for rebel returnees to be included in three other DSWD programs: the Pantawid and Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).

Under the SLG, the family of a former rebel will receive P20,000 provided he is certified by the JAPIC and endorsed by the E-CLIP.

Under the AICS, the DSWD paid out P10,000 as financial assistance again based on JAPIC certification and endorsement by the E-CLIP committees of local government units where the applicant is located.

“The certification from the JAPIC and the endorsement from the E-CLIP committee are the only vital documents attesting to the eligibility of the beneficiaries to receive assistance,” the COA had pointed out.

In the absence of the original documents, the commission pointed out that even the identity of the 330 former rebels “could not be ascertained” since the beneficiaries typically cannot present government-issued identity cards.

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