THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will file administrative and criminal charges against a barangay official who took an P8,500 cut from the P10,000 cash assistance intended for a pregnant woman during a payout in the Davao region last week.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian yesterday identified the victim as Anne Villarin of Barangay Sinalwilan in Matanao in Davao del Sur.
Villarin was supposed to file a separate complaint yesterday but was brought to a hospital for check-up after experiencing stomach pains.
“Nasa OB yung ating kliyente pero pag na-clear siya ng OB niya, sasamahan siya ng DSWD sa pag-file ng administrative and criminal case (The client is with an obstetrician. Once her obstetrician clears her, DSWD will accompany her in filing administrative and criminal cases),” he said in an interview in Ilagan in Isabela.
The complaint from Villarin will be on top of the complaint to be filed by the DSWD, which includes grave abuse of authority and graft and corruption.
Gatchalian said they are still determining if charges of intimidation would also be filed against the barangay leader.
“Let this be a warning to all. DSWD cash grants are for beneficiaries alone. Nobody, not even government officials, should take part in these cash aids,” he said.
Villarin, a beneficiary of the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program, received a payout of P10,000 during the distribution made by the department in Davao del Sur last June 6. She took to social media after receiving the cash grant from the DSWD.
She was, however, reportedly asked by an official from their barangay to first remit the P10,000 cash she received to the barangay, which she did.
She was later given only P1,500 in return and again took to social media on June 7 to air her complaint, which alerted the DSWD.
Gatchalian said the DSWD Field Office XI in the Davao region investigated the matter and found out that a barangay official withheld the P8,500 and claimed that it was supposed to be given to others in need.
Gatchalian said the official should have referred other beneficiaries to the DSWD instead of taking a cut from the grant.
“We are calling on all beneficiaries to never allow anybody to get their cash grants for them. Their grants are for them. And if somebody tries to get it, what they should do is report to the DSWD rather than give the cash grant,” he said.
