The government said Thursday it will give show-cause orders to 43 mayors who have been slow to distribute emergency subsidies to low-income families during the COVID-19 lockdown, even as it said 11.5 million families under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) would receive the second round of cash aid.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the 43 local chief executive must explain why they were unable to distribute the aid despite two extensions of the deadline given to local government units (LGUs), with the latest deadline ending midnight of May 10.
“While the vast majority of the LGUs were able to distribute their SAP (social amelioration program funds) before the deadline leading to a national pay-out rate of 97 percent yesterday, there are those who were still left out,” said Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año. “The DILG and the public deserve to know why they failed to complete their distribution.”
The 43 LGUs had an accomplishment rate of only 79 percent, he said.
Eleven of the mayors are in Western Visayas, eight are in Mimaropa, five are in Central Visayas, four are in Davao Region, and four are in the National Capital Region. Two each were from the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and one was from Central Luzon.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, meanwhile, clarified that graft and corruption cases related to the handling of the SAP fund will be investigated by the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and no longer by the DILG field offices.
He said Año transferred the probe of corrupt barangay officials to the PNP CIDG field offices for the immediate filing of cases since the CIDG has more investigators than the DILG field offices.
He added that Año will not tolerate a single instance of graft and corruption.
Malaya also said the public may participate in validating the list of beneficiaries of SAP in their communities by checking the list posted in barangay halls, which is also a requirement for LGUs to get the second tranche of SAP to be downloaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The Palace on Thursday said at least 11.5 million families under the ECQ would receive a second round of cash assistance.
Metro Manila, Laguna, and Cebu City are still under the ECQ but will gradually transition to a modified ECQ starting May 16.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said under amended guidelines, millions of families who were unable to receive the cash assistance from the first trance of the social amelioration program would receive help this time around.
“Poor families of Metro Manila and other high-risk areas that will be placed under MECQ by May 16 will get financial assistance as promised by President Duterte,” Roque said in a television interview.
The MECQ is more relaxed than ECQ but has more restrictions than a general community quarantine (GCQ).
“For the second tranche this May, the beneficiaries are those who live in ECQ areas which is about 11.5 million families,” he said.
Duterte earlier approved the addition of 5 million families that will benefit from the first tranche of the financial aid program amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), however, said poor families living in areas under a GCQ should also receive cash aid from the second tranche of the SAP.
In a statement, Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said the cash assistance should be given to everyone struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown that thrown millions of Filipinos out of work.
“It does not mean that just because they are living in areas to be placed under GCQ, all of them will be able to go back to their jobs. Some of them still can’t work. Some of them have completely lost their jobs. They should continue to receive social amelioration from the government,” Reyes said.
He said during the deliberation of Congress for emergency powers, the government promised to distribute SAP cash aid amounting to nearly P200 billion for 18 million families, which can last for two months, adding there was no mention of giving SAP only to those in areas under ECQ.
“The first month of distribution is done and if that is the case, then there should still be P100 billion for 18 million families, whether or not they live in areas under ECQ,” he added.
Under the social amelioration program of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, some 18 million poor families will be given a monthly cash aid of P5,000 to 8,000 for two months through a P200 billion budget.
The Palace said poor families living in highly urbanized cities may get their emergency cash subsidies through electronic cash transfers.
In a virtual press briefing aired on state-run PTV-4, Roque said automatic cash payouts will be performed in these cities to hasten the distribution of financial aid to low-income households.
“We will resort to electronic money transfers. We will use PayMaya and other technological innovations to speed up the distribution of assistance to our fellow countrymen,” Roque said.
Roque made the announcement, as he noted that cities experienced some difficulty in distributing payouts during the first round of financial assistance.
Roque said the contactless distribution of emergency subsidies under SAP does not apply to provinces.
About 23 million SAP beneficiaries are expected to receive the first tranche of cash assistance from the national government.
As of May 13, about 12.635 million poor families have so far received the emergency subsidies, according to the data released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The deadline for LGUs’ distribution of financial aid to SAP beneficiaries lapsed on Wednesday.
Roque, however, said the release of the first tranche of payouts will not cease until the 23 million recipients get the cash subsidies.
The Anakpawis party-list group meanwhile called for the urgent and safe distribution social amelioration for the second month of the lockdown, amid delays and a process that violates physical distancing guidelines.
The group also called for the inclusion of more poor families, as many were excluded from the list. Under the MECQ, the government will allow some sectors or industries to operate, but laborers would still face uncertainty of earning an income as mass transportation will still not be allowed to operate.
“The worst case scenario is many workers would still be unable to go to their workplaces as there is no mass transport, thus, if they could not earn for the day, they would be in dire need of the social amelioration and food relief for the next weeks,” Ariel Casilao, a former representative of the Anakpawis party-list group said.
Also on Thursday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it has filed graft and corruption cases against three barangay officials and two civilians in relation to anomalies in the distribution of SAP funds in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
NBI Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Eric Distor identified those charged as Barangay Kagawad Danilo Flores, Brgy. Executive Assistant Richard Bautista and Barangay Chairman Jason Mendoza, who are all officials of Barangay San Agustin, Hagonoy, Bulacan.
Distor added that two other persons, former Barangay Kagawad Levi Cosay, and Regine Bautista, wife of Richard, were also included in the charges filed on May 11 before the Department of Justice in Manila.
The NBI said that in Barangay San Agustin, Hagonoy Bulacan, three complainants alleged that SAP beneficiaries received P 6,500 each from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on April 27, 2020, at San Agustin Elementary School in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
But in the afternoon of that date, Flores, accompanied by a certain Michael Perez, demanded P4,000 from the beneficiaries.
Flores allegedly claimed that the P3,500 would be given to Hagonoy Municipal Mayor Raulito T. Manlapaz, Sr., and the remaining P500 would be given to the frontliners of the municipality of Hagonoy.
Against their will, complainants gave back P4,000 to Flores. The NBI said that further investigation revealed that Flores threatened the complainants that if they refuse to return P4,000, they would be blacklisted and eventually delisted as beneficiaries of all subsequent relief or amelioration grants.
Witnesses said a total of P117,000 collected by Flores was turned over to Bautista and his wife. With PNA