By Chito A. Chavez
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on June 5, Friday, that it has continuously gathered evidence and pertinent information with the hope of building-up airtight cases against 155 barangay officials suspected to have committed social amelioration program (SAP) related anomalies.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said 155 barangay captains and officials have been investigated and have been referred to the Office of the Ombudsman due to alleged irregularities.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
He assured that investigations have been relentless against these errant barangay officials who included the names of their relatives, family members, supporters, and friends in the list of recipients and those who received double cash aid under the SAP.
A fuming Año said the DILG would continue to run after local officials involved in irregularities with the handling of emergency cash subsidies to the beneficiaries.
More complaints are welcome, he noted, since the public are now aware of the unqualified recipients of the SAP cash grants, with the list of beneficiaries being posted in the prominent areas of the barangays.
The DILG chief noted that 99 percent of the first wave of cash aid under the SAP have been completed, while about five million beneficiaries in the second wave of the financial grant have already been validated.
“Five million families who left out the first tranche would be prioritized in the second tranche,’’ Año said.
In the department’s latest report, around 4,094,311 names that were submitted by the LGUs will be prioritized under the second tranche.
The DILG chief noted that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) will assist in the distribution of the cash aid in remote areas and in places where there are peace and order concerns.
Año also noted that the automated teller machine (ATM) pay scheme will be used in most instances to facilitate the distribution of the second wave of financial help.