The beneficiaries of the Livelihood Assistance Grants (LAG) will receive their livelihood grants in full.
This was assured by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday, Nov. 5, following reports that a certain cooperative in Central Luzon was allegedly deducting and collecting a part of the grants intended for the LAG beneficiaries.
“The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public that all beneficiaries receive their grants in full by closely monitoring the disbursement of cash assistance,” read the agency’s statement issued on Friday.
Under the LAG, qualified beneficiaries which include low-income families or those whose small business or livelihood has been affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic are given financial assistance.
The DSWD said it has not tapped any cooperatives for the distribution of the LAG, citing the recent issue involving a certain Magic 7 Cooperative.
“The DSWD Field Office (FO) III received a report that the said cooperative is allegedly deducting and collecting a part of the grants, which was intended for the eligible LAG beneficiaries,” it said.
The Social Welfare department said its FO III “has no history and existing transactions” with Magic 7 Cooperative.
“Furthermore, the DSWD is currently conducting fact-finding on the alleged complaint and is willing to fully cooperate with the investigating body on this issue.”
Quoting the DSWD FO III, it said the cash assistance payroll for LAG was prepared based on the final list of beneficiaries provided by the local government unit (LGU), and in accordance with the existing accounting and auditing rules.
“Likewise, the full amount of grants indicated in the payroll were directly distributed to the beneficiaries.”
The DSWD reported that more than P241.55 million worth of livelihood assistance has been given to 22,122 LAG beneficiaries in the region.
It explained that through its monitoring mechanisms, it continues validating and monitoring the distribution of LAG “to ensure that the grants were utilized by target beneficiaries for their chosen livelihood projects, as identified by their respective LGUs.”
“There is no irregularity in the distribution of grants,” it stressed.
The LAG is part of the recovery phase of the Social Amelioration Program, which aims to help pandemic-hit families recover from economic losses by providing support to their new or existing micro-enterprise projects and/or augmenting their expenses for pre-employment requirements.
The DSWD encouraged the public to immediately report any similar incident to the Agency Operations Center Hotline 8888.