INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday said 19 more barangay officials have been charged for irregularities in the distribution of the first tranche of the cash assistance under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
This brings to 42 the number of corrupt barangay officials who have been charged by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) before the Prosecutor’s Office of the Department of Justice.
“Seryosohan po ito. Nalalapit na ang paghuhukom para sa mga tiwaling opisyales ng mga barangay (We’re serious. The day of reckoning for these erring barangay officials is getting near),” said Año adding policemen will not stop until these kinds of people are held accountable.
Año said 110 more cases are under “case build-up.”
Año said most of the charged barangay leaders were accused of “splitting” or dividing the SAP assistance that their constituents were supposed to get. Complainants said the officials demanded a share from their cash subsidy allegedly to distribute to other poor families who did not supposedly qualify as beneficiaries. He said it is clear in the law and in the policy of the DSWD that the SAP cash aid is for the family of registered SAP beneficiaries only.
Barangay officials accused of splitting the cash subsidies included barangay captain Gary Remoquillo of San Pedro City, Laguna; barangay captain Omar Guban and health worker Girlie Prejas of Irosin, Sorsogon; and barangay councilor Dely Ala of Manito town in Albay.
The DILG said splitting cases were also noted in barangays in Leyte, Abra, and Quezon City.
Año said there were also barangay officials who were accused of getting cuts from the cash assistance. Some of these officials were identified as barangay executive officer Marcialo Mendoza of Olongapo City; barangay captain Ramon Jardin, barangay secretary Stephen Jalandon, purok president Corazon Latoza, and liaison officer Rose Jean Estador of Bacolod City; barangay captain Rey Cabian of Bucay town in Abra; and barangay official Ivor Laug-Laug of Bansalan town in Davao del Sur.
“Sa panahon ng krisis, naisipan pa ng mga barangay officials na ito na kumuha ng commission o tara mula sa SAP beneficiaries. That is corruption at its finest. Hindi natin ito palalampasin (During this time of crisis, these barangay officials still had the guts to get commissions or cuts from the SAP beneficiaries. That is corruption at its finest. We are not going to let this pass),” he said.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said there were also cases of nepotism.
Malaya cited the case of barangay chairman Leonardo Recto of Barangay 11, Zone, 2 District 1 of Tondo in Manila City who allegedly single-handedly identified the SAP beneficiaries, including his close friends and relatives, in his jurisdiction.
Malaya said a barangay secretary and a barangay treasurer from Aparri town Cagayan are also facing charges for allegedly including themselves as SAP recipients.
DSWD UPDATE
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista, during the “Laging Handa” briefing, said more than 300 LGUs have yet to complete the payout for the April tranche of the emergency cash subsidy.
DSWD data as of 8 p.m. of May 20 showed that 1,250 of 1,634 local units nationwide have already completed the distribution of the SAP in their jurisdictions. Of this number, 505 LGUs have already submitted their liquidation reports and the list of SAP beneficiaries in their areas.
Bautista said as of May 20, P98.4 billion of the April payout had already been distributed to 17.4 million beneficiaries.
LGUs have been directed to submit the list of “left out” or “waitlisted” families who are eligible to receive the cash subsidy but were not included in the first tranche.
Under the proposed guidelines for the distribution of the May tranche of the SAP, only low-income families living in areas covered by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and the MECQ will be included. The waitlisted families will also be included in the second tranche.
MAY PAYOUT
The May payout will be done either electronically through bank or money transfer schemes, or with the help of the police and the military who will distribute these in remote areas, island barangays, and places either with high security or peace and order concerns, or those where the distribution of the first tranche had been delayed.
Bautista had said the DSWD will tap the AFP for the May distribution.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque aid the designation of the AFP will not only hasten the delivery of the cash aid especially to the remote islands, but also limit the chances of corruption and avoid instances where only a portion of the SAP aid is released to intended beneficiaries.
TNVS, PUVS
Social Welfare Undersecretary Glenn Paje said DSWD is closely coordinating with the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to speed up the cross-matching and validation of the drivers who are eligible for the cash subsidy intended for the transportation sector.
Paje said once the cross-matching of the beneficiaries is completed, the DSWD will the master list of cleared beneficiaries to the LTFRB for the preparation of the payroll and to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) which will release the fund downloaded by the DSWD.
Paje said that to date, 62,028 qualified transportation network vehicle services (TNVS), motorcycle taxis (MC), and public utility vehicles (PUVs) drivers have already received their emergency subsidy worth P496.2 million.
BALIK PROBINSYA
Roque said 121 people were sent back to Palo in Leyte on Wednesday under the Balik Probinsya, Balik Pagasa (BP2) program of the government. The DOTr shouldered the cost of sending the program beneficiaries.
Roque said livelihood and housing assistance will be provided to those who availed of the program.
Sen. Christopher Go, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar led the sending off of the beneficiaries
The 121 are part of the 3,371 applicants who had expressed intent to go back to their homes in various municipalities in the province of Leyte. No date yet has been set for the send-off for the next set of beneficiaries.
The DSWD provided food packs that will be given to the beneficiaries upon their arrival in the province, along with a livelihood grant that will be released within fifteen days from arrival. The DILG has also coordinated with the receiving local government unit to ensure that needed support and assistance will be provided when they arrive in their homes.
SM MALLS
The management of SM Supermalls, the country’s biggest mall operator, on Thursday assured its workers they will get their full compensation even if its shopping centers are only under partial operation.
Bien Mateo, SM Supermalls senior vice president, told the Laging Handa briefing that in compliance with the health and safety protocols enforced during the MECQ, only 50 percent of its mall workers are reporting for work while the other half are on standby to take their turn in the rotation or under a work-from-home arrangement.
“Currently, we are only deploying half of our headcount, we are observing that rule to the letter. That means the other half are on a different work schedule or what we call work from home. Regardless of this situation, we gave them our commitment that they will still be paid their wages in full,” he said.
Other than the mall employees, Mateo clarified that there are over 25,000 mall tenants and store owners that SM Supermalls also has to take care of.
“They are heavily affected, of course. By way of helping them during the lockdown, we have waived all rentals and other charges that they would otherwise be required to pay,” the mall official said. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Peter Tabingo
