23 barangay execs face raps over SAP

By Chito Chavez Twenty-three barangay officials are now facing criminal charges for cash aid-related anomalies under the social amelioration program (SAP) after the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed cases against them before the prosecutor’s office of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año said on Monday that the PNP has already filed 12 criminal cases against 23 barangay officials with four more cases due to be filed in the next few days. With this development, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he will order prosecutors to prioritize the cases filed against barangay officials who are allegedly involved in anomalies concerning the distribution of emergency subsidy under the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP). “I will direct our prosecutors to give priority attention to the preliminary investigation of these criminal complaints,” the DOJ chief told reporters. Apart the 23 officials who have been charged and scheduled to be charged, Año said 110 barangay officials are currently under “case build-up” after 318 complainants nationwide reported graft and corrupt practices against them. Año said the successive cases now being filed by the CIDG against erring barangay officials is a testament to the government’s zero tolerance against corruption. He assured that probes and casebuild ups are being intensified to ensure that the barangay officials who duped the impoverished of the cash aid due to them will be put behind bars. Año said most of the cases involved anomalies committed by punong barangays, barangay kagawad, barangay treasurers, barangay secretaries, barangay employees, purok leaders, and even social workers. Cases for violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and RA 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal As One Act) were filed by the PNP-CIDG against these barangay officials. Año ordered the CIDG to investigate the graft and corruption complaints against barangay officials. Barangay officials facing complaints which are administrative in nature will still be issued show cause orders by the DILG and investigated by DILG field units for filing of cases against them with the Office of the Ombudsman. He said “the PNP is now hard at work in pursuing the investigations and the filing of cases especially now that the government is set to release the second tranche of the SAP emergency subsidy for low-income families later this month.’’ DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan E. Malaya said the anomalies committed by the barangay officials ranged from splitting (of the cash aid), falsification of the master list, and getting a “cut” or “tara” from the SAP beneficiaries, among others He expressed disappointment “that the national government and the people counted on the concerned barangay officials to be their anchor and support in this time of pandemic but they were like leeches who suck the blood out of the government’s SAP assistance.” In Bacolod City, Malaya said a punong barangay, barangay secretary, purok president, and liaison officer to the barangay allegedly connived and took back P4,000 each from the possession of seven SAP beneficiaries after they received their P6,000 individual cash aid. A similar incident was reported in Peñablanca, Cagayan, by a SAP beneficiary who filed a complaint against a barangay kagawad for demanding for the return of P4,000 from the P5,500 that she received, saying the kagawad was the one who caused the inclusion of the recipient in the SAP master list of beneficiaries. Malaya said that the splitting of SAP assistance and politics in choosing SAP beneficiaries were also noted in several areas of the country. In San Policarpo, Eastern Samar, a barangay official is under probe for de-listing from the master list of beneficiaries those who did not support him during the last elections. A barangay chairman in Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur, is the subject of a complaint for selecting SAP beneficiaries who are not qualified under the cash assistance and using fictitious names in the list of beneficiaries. In Tondo, Manila, a barangay chairman is the subject of the complaint of five individuals who claimed that the punong barangay singlehandedly identified the SAP beneficiaries who are mostly his close friends and relatives to the detriment of other qualified beneficiaries. Malaya disclosed that there was even an incident in Pasay City where a punong barangay included the employees of his laundry shop in the list of SAP recipients and making the cash aid appear as their salaries. In Lapu-Lapu City, Malaya said a social worker is under investigation for facilitating the inclusion of her four relatives, an in-law and her son’s girlfriend in the list of SAP beneficiaries even if they are not qualified. Similarly, Malaya revealed that a Cebu City barangay health worker is the subject of a complaint after he included his in-laws in the master list even if they are allegedly not qualified. Malaya urged the public to file their complaints against erring barangay officials and social workers and assured that they will be made answerable for their misdeeds. (With a report from Jeffrey Damicog)