MALACAÑANG and social welfare officials on Tuesday said the emergency cash subsidy for May will be limited to low-income families living in areas placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting May 16, but will include the estimated five million households that had been left out of the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) for April.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the inclusion of the five million families in the first tranche of the SAP payout, which originally covered only 18 million poor households, including Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (4Ps) beneficiaries, and those from vulnerable sectors as set by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The National Capital Region, Laguna province and Cebu City will be under modified ECQ starting May 16. Quarantine regulations have been relaxed in other areas previously under strict protocols.
Rolando Bautista, secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD, said social workers will take over the distribution of the May payout to speed up the payout and make the system more efficient.
The limited distribution of the May tranche and the inclusion of the additional five million households were among the provisions of IATF Resolution 35 which the President approved on May 11.
UPDATE
Roque said the April SAP distribution was already 92.3 percent complete as of Monday. The distribution will continue until the DSWD announces the conclusion of the disbursement of the cash subsidy.
Bautista urged local government officials to expedite the distribution of the April tranche so the DSWD can start the distribution of the May payout. The second tranche can only be released after the DSWD verifies the liquidation reports to be submitted by the local executives.
The liquidation report, along with the names of the persons who received the cash aid of P5,000 to P8,000, should be submitted within 15 days after completion of the April cash aid.
Bautista said 1,035 local government units had a 100 percent completion rate, while only 140 LGUs have so far submitted their liquidation reports.
Roque and Bautista said LGUs who have distributed only 80 percent of the SAP or lower will be issued show-cause orders by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and asked to explain their slow compliance. It will be up to the DILG to decide whether or not to sanction concerned local authorities.
Bautista said the April payout benefited 16.3 million out of the 18 million targeted SAP beneficiaries, which accounts for P92.1 billion out of the P100 billion allocation for April.
The 16.3 million beneficiaries include 12.2 million low income, non-4Ps families (P74.4billion), 3.7 million 4Ps cash card holders (P16.3 billion), 278,433 4PS non-cash card holders (P1.01 billion), and 40,418 transportation network vehicle service and public utility vehicle drivers in Metro Manila (P323.4 million).
In his report to Congress, President Duterte said that based on the May 7 data on the SAP distribution, the highest amount of SAP distribution was in Region 3 (Central Luzon) with P8.743 billion, Region 4 (Calabarzon) with P8.717 billion, and National Capital Region with P6.975 billion.
OLONGAPO CITY
Operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested on Monday afternoon a barangay official in Olongapo City, who reportedly demanded part of the SAP cash assistance received by a beneficiary.
The CIDG named the suspect as Marcialo Mendoza, 41, a barangay executive officer of Barangay New Cabalan in Olongapo City.
Mendoza was accosted during an entrapment operation based on the complaint of one Jonahdeal Licudini, who alleged the barangay leader demanded a P3,000 share from the SAP assistance that she got supposedly “to be given to officials of their barangay.”
Mendoza received the marked money from Licudini along a national highway in the barangay at around 4:30 p.m. on Monday. CIDG operatives arrested Mendoza at the Barangay New Cabalan Hall at around 5:30 p.m. Police recovered the marked money from Licudini.
Mendoza is facing charges of graft, robbery-extortion and grave threat.
“This operation is part of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s directive, through DILG, to investigate and conduct law enforcement operations against barangay officials or any government officials involved in the anomalies in the distribution of financial aid under the government’s Social Amelioration Program,” the CIDG said.
President Duterte offered last week a P30,000 reward to persons who will provide information that would lead to the arrest of barangay officials involved in corrupt activities in relation to the SAP distribution.
MILITARY ASSISTANCE
The Armed Forces will deploy its forces to help in the distribution of cash assistance in compliance with the directive of President Duterte.
“We feel the express desire of the President to provide immediate intervention measures to address the need to bring amelioration assistance to the people forthwith,” said Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, adding: “Hearing this directive from the commander-in-chief, our field commanders will institute necessary adjustments in our troops deployment.”
Members of the military have been deployed to help man community quarantine checkpoints all over the country.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the soldiers’ assistance in the distribution of the financial aid is needed, especially in isolated areas.
“The distribution of aids are one day or two days at most. The assistance is needed specially in remote areas. The military will field sufficient force to defend the convoy from attack or the distribution center. This new directive is in response to the killing of two Army escorts of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) recently.”
Lorenzana was referring an April 21 attack staged by New People’s Army rebels in Maria Aurora town in Aurora. Soldiers were providing security to DSWD personnel distributing the SAP funds when they were waylaid by the rebels, leaving two troops dead and three others injured.
On April 30, the communists said government agencies distributing aid to the people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are not going to be harmed by NPA rebels. However, they urged these agencies to refuse AFP escorts “as their (soldiers) presence only raises the danger of armed encounters.” — With Victor Reyes
