COA questions DSWD’s grant of benefits to ‘poor Filipinos’ not included in Listahanan data base

The Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the inclusion in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of beneficiaries who are not in the data base of Listahanan 2 which identifies who and where the poor are in the country.

The non-inclusion of the so-called poor in the Listahanan 2 data base in 2022 made the recipients of the benefits “questionable,” COA said in its 2022 audit report. 

The 4Ps program is a national poverty reduction strategy that provides cash grants to farmers, fisherfolks, homeless families, indigenous peoples, those from the informal settler sector, and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

In its audit report, COA cited the 2010 Executive Order No. 867 which states that national government agencies (NGAs) should use the data generated by the Listahanan 2 in prioritizing the selection of the beneficiaries in the 4Ps program.

But it said that when its audit team cross-checked the 4Ps and Listahanan 2 database of DSWD Field Offices (FOs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Regions I, II, III, and IV-A, it discovered that 2,991 or 60.18 percent of the 4Ps list were not found in the Listahanan 2 database.

"This may mean that the 4Ps section included names in the 4Ps database independently assessed and not lifted from the Listahanan 2, which is contrary to Republic Act No. 11310 and EO 867 s. 2010, which provides that all NGAs shall use the data generated by the Listahanan in the selection of 4Ps beneficiaries, thus, the eligibility of the selected beneficiaries is questionable," COA said.

"This would mean that the issued Listahanan 2, which other government agencies are relying on to determine those eligible to avail of their programs, if proven wrong or incomplete, would also deprive other deserving poor families to benefit from the government's initiative in giving them the appropriate assistance they need," it added.

To remedy this issue, the COA has tasked the head of the 4Ps program to review the selection process for inclusion in the 4Ps database and ensure that the inclusion of names not in the Listahanan 2 undergoes stringent vetting to avoid irregular payment to ineligible beneficiaries.

It also mandated the heads of the 4Ps to assess those who are not included in the latest Listahanan 2 if they are still eligible to be included in the program.