The city legal officer of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on Saturday said the local government is only distributing an initial P1,000 cash assistance because they have not yet received the complete list of beneficiaries per household and only depended on the list of household heads under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
Lawyer Elmer Galicia said the local government had no time to validate more beneficiaries so they started giving part of the cash assistance from the national government.
"Wala na po tayong time, kailangan pong mag-distribute na, kasi napakarami namin dito sa San Jose del Monte kung iku-compare po sa dami ng nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno, eh kulang naman po kami (We no longer have time so we should start distributing the money because we have a lot of residents here in San Jose del Monte, as compared to the number of government personnel)," Galicia said in DZBB interview.
"So idi-distribute na po namin 'yung SAP habang ginagawa po namin ‘yung listahan ng mga tao na sunod na bibigyan (We started distributing money for SAP beneficiaries while making another list of other beneficiaries)," he added. " SAP list, 'yun po head of the family ... Hindi pa po kasama ‘yung mga members of the family, ganoon po 'yun (The initial recipients were only head of the families based on SAP list. Other family members were not yet included)."
Galicia's clarification came after the local government drew backlash on social media and faced complaints from several residents, who said they only received P1,000 cash assistance even if they were qualified to get more based on a memorandum circular signed by various national government agencies.
The beneficiaries were also asked to sign a waiver stating they have no complaints about the money they get or its process of distribution.
"Marami pong confusions talaga, kung makikita po nila 'yung data mauunawaan po talaga nila (There were really a lot confusions. Only if they saw the data, they would understand)," he added.
Galicia also said city officials, including Mayor Arthur Robes, are already considering removing the controversial waiver as part of cash distribution process. But for now "it will continue," but it is "not required."
According to him, beneficiaries, despite signing a waiver which says they no longer have complaints, may still complain before the grievance desks.
"'Wag po sila mag-alala, meron naman pong grievance, pumunta po sila sa grievance, ipaliwanag po ‘yung miyembro ng family at mabibigyan naman po sila (They should not worry. There are grievance desks, where they could go to tell how many they are in the family. They would be given proper assistance)," he added.