What missing Social Amelioration Program (SAP) funds?
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Sunday, July 4, rejected Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s claim that the P10.4 billion worth of SAP funds went missing.
https://twitter.com/chailuci/status/1411503355969433600
“Nais din natin bigyan diin na wala pong "nawawalang pondo" hinggil dito sa SAP implementation (We also want to emphasize that there are no supposed missing funds regarding this SAP implementation),” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in an interview over TeleRadyo.
“All our financial transactions are accounted for. Gayundin po tinitiyak natin na (Also, we want to ensure that) we are able to comply with the generally accepted accounting system,” she pointed out.
In a virtual presser on Saturday afternoon, Pacquiao revealed that P10.4 billion worth of SAP funds were not given to beneficiaries. He claimed that more or less P50 billion was allocated for Starpay e-wallet service when it purportedly just had paid up capital of P62,000.
Related story: https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/03/pacquiao-tags-dswd-in-corruption-cites-%E2%82%B110-4-b-missing-sap-funds/
Dumlao explained that the SAP funds downloaded to the financial service providers (FSPs), including Starpay have been returned to the DSWD.
“The FSPs, kabilang ang Starpay, ni-liquidate po lahat ng budget na kanilang natanggap at kung anuman ang pondo na hindi naibigay duon sa ating unserved beneficiaries ay kanila naman pong nirefund sa DSWD and this refunded amount is now being distributed duon sa natitira pang SAP beneficiaries (The FSPs, including Starpay, liquidated all the funds they received and the remaining funds that were not given to our unserved beneficiaries were refunded to DSWD and this refunded amount is now being distributed to the remaining unserved SAP beneficiaries),” she said.
In a Viber message to the Manila Bulletin, Dumlao said, “DSWD maintains no “missing” funds.”
The DSWD official reiterated that they were ready to face any investigation regarding the supposed missing SAP funds, and its alleged failure to serve 1.3 beneficiaries due to use of Starpay e-wallet.
Dumlao said on Saturday, July 3, that they were “willing” to shed light on the allegations hurled by Pacquiao against the government’s handling of SAP distribution, particularly the digital payment of the second tranche of cash subsidies under the already-lapsed Republic Act No. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act”, popularly known as Bayanihan 1.
Related story: https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/03/willing-to-present-evidence-documents-dswd-ready-to-face-new-round-of-sap-probe/
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate had launched congressional inquiries into the confusion and delays in the distribution of the SAP cash subsidies.
In April this year, the DSWD terminated its engagement with FSPs and decided to conduct manual payouts for unserved SAP beneficiaries.
Under RA No. 11469 or Bayanihan 1, around 18 million low-income households were entitled to receive their emergency subsidy amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 for two months.
The DSWD had noted that for the first tranche of SAP, it disbursed P99.9 billion to over 17.6 million family beneficiaries.
For the second tranche, it distributed over P87 billion worth of emergency cash subsidies through manual and digital payouts to 14.5 million family-beneficiaries.