The Office of the Vice President (OVP) stands by its claim that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) neglected thousands of referrals from the OVP.

OVP satellite office in Cebu City (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page)

This was contrary to the claim of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian that his agency has proof that it has accommodated requests for assistance from Vice President Sara Duterte’s office.
 

“The claim by Secretary Rexlon Gatchalian that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has accommodated all referrals from the Office of the Vice President is inaccurate and misleading,” OVP Director for Operations Norman Baloro said in a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
 

“While such statements may paint a picture of seamless coordination between our two offices, the reality on the ground tells a different story,” he added.
 

Baloro himself was pointed by Gatchalian as the handling officer of the OVP who allegedly told the DSWD that it has accommodated all of its requests after Duterte claimed that the DSWD was politicizing the government’s assistance program.
 

The DSWD chief even said they can furnish the Senate a copy of the screenshots of these conversations.
 

But Baloro apparently backtracked and stated that “there had been several instances when OVP referrals were declined.”
 

He said that a request for assistance by a group of individuals affected by the African Swine  Flu was denied because the DSWD claimed it doesn’t do “mass payout” despite being able to do so in other areas with other politicians.
 

There are also 7,056 pending applications for Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and 2,597 pending applications for Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) referred by the OVP Satellite Offices in Panay and Negros Island.
 

Baloro claimed he also readied a list of identified beneficiaries by the OVP Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor Satellite Offices who up to now have not received assistance from the DSWD. 
 

“There is no clear explanation provided by the DSWD to the OVP referred clients from the Satellite Offices on the delay or inaction on the requests,” the statement read.
 

“To dismiss these unserved clients is to ignore the real challenges many Filipinos face in accessing social services,” it added.
 

Baloro called on the DSWD to act immediately “to address these gaps and fulfill the government’s obligation to provide aid to every Filipino.”
 

Duterte and the Marcos administration had a falling out after Congress, led by the President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, took out the OVP’s confidential fund budget last year and made inquiries into how the agency had been spending its budget.
 

The Duterte family, for its part, called for Marcos’ resignation and at one point, former president Rodrigo Duterte called the President “bangag (stoned)” and alleged that Romualdez was corrupting lawmakers.