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DILG to intensify probe vs local execs involved in anomalous SAP distribution

Published Jun 16, 2020 12:00 am
By Chito Chavez Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday vowed that the investigation against allegations of mishandling of funds under the social amelioration program (SAP) by local government officials will be further intensified to make the guilty parties answerable to the law. DILG Secretary Eduardo Año  (PCOO/ MANILA BULLETIN) DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (PCOO/ MANILA BULLETIN) He issued the warning at the heels of his declaration during President Duterte’s televised report that 139 cases have been filed against local government unit (LGU) officials for their alleged involvement in the SAP related cash aid distribution anomalies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the 452 complainants, Año said that this has led to the probe on 649 suspects. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said that from these numbers, it was able to prepare 250 cases, 139 of which have already been filed at the fiscal's office. He added that 885 private individuals were arrested for various crimes such as hoarding, profiteering, and manipulation of prices. Año said that these offenses translate to economic sabotage especially when the country is reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The DILG has asserted that all parties, whether barangay officials or private individuals, involved in unscrupulous and deceitful cash distribution anomalies under the SAP will be charged accordingly. DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said that unqualified SAP cash aid recipients are still liable for unlawfully receiving the financial assistance at the expense of the poorest among the poor. “The return of the aid will not extinguish their criminal liability,’’ Malaya said. The CIDG-NCR has acted on the numerous SAP-related complaints against rogue barangay officials. In many of their probes and case build-ups, the undeserving financial grantees pointed to the barangay officials who included them in the list of the first tranche of SAP. Barangay personnel who are receiving the same compensation as the barangay kagawad (village councilors) insisted that they deserved the cash aid since they are among the frontliners. Other barangay officials who were subjected to the SAP complaints said the complaints against them will never prosper. CIDG-NCR chief Col. Arnold Thomas Ibay said their legal team has intensely studied the complaints to verify which will hold ground before filing the cases. He echoed Malaya’s sentiment saying that those who have more in life should give way to the underprivileged. Ibay noted that the unqualified SAP recipients who returned the cash grants “as an afterthought’’ remain liable.
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