SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo yesterday ordered an investigation into the supposed failure of the previous management of the Department of Social Welfare to distribute close to P2 billion in cash assistance under its Social Amelioration Program.
The Commission on Audit has flagged the DSWD in its audit report for 2021 for the undistributed cash aid. It said the agency failed to roll out around P1.9 billion worth of cash assistance under its SAP, which comprise more than P1.7 billion in its field office in the NCR and more than P155 million in the Western Visayas.
The cash subsidies allocated under SAP is in line with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020. Under the DSWD’s SAP, Filipinos from low-income households were entitled to P5,000 to P8,000 aid to improve their “economic, physical, and psychosocial well-being” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a public briefing, Tulfo said he is not taking to task the previous management of the DSWD for the COA finding, but he only wants to find out what happened.
“Ito ay paiimbestigahan ko kung ano ho ang nangyari. Pero initially, mayroon na ho akong report dito, parang nagkaroon daw ng confusion pero hindi pa ho malinaw. I will keep on investigating (I will have this investigated to find out what really happened. But initially, I have a report here, and it says that there was somewhat a confusion, but it is not yet clear. I will keep on investigating),” Tulfo said.
Tulfo said the funds are not missing since some P1.7 billion were already returned to the National Treasury.
COA has said that the refunds made by the Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) and Accountable Officers (AOs) were higher than what was paid out to SAP beneficiaries, citing “poor planning and monitoring” on the part of the program implementors.
Other issues raised by government auditors were the schedule of payouts that were not determined before drawing the cash advances, and difficulties in coordination between the agency and the local government units due to the pandemic.
Tulfo said the problem now is that many SAP beneficiaries have been asking for their share of the cash aid as they have not received theirs.
“Naibalik naman po ang pera sa Bureau of Treasury, so hindi naman talaga siya nawala. Iyon nga lang, ang nakalulungkot, hindi naibigay sa tao noong kinakailangan ng tao iyong budget. Iyon lang ho iyon. So, medyo may dilemma ho ako rito at medyo malungkot kasi kung paiimbestigahan ko ito, what will happen [is] I will pullout two or three of my people to investigate this matter where in fact, they could focus on our problems now and then in the future (The money has been reverted to the Bureau of Treasury, so it is not missing.
The only problem here is that it did not reach the beneficiaries when they needed it most.
That’s the only problem. If I will have this investigated, what will happen is I will pullout two or three of my people to investigate the matter, where in fact they could focus on our problems now, and then in the future),” he added.
