DILG: Cebu City BHW under fire over SAP anomaly

23 brgy officials nationwide are now facing criminal charges over the implementation of the assistance program

DILG Sec. Eduardo Año

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A barangay health worker (BHW) in Cebu City is among those in hot waters over alleged anomalies in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

The health worker allegedly included his “unqualified” in-laws in the list of SAP beneficiaries in his village, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced this Monday, May 18, 2020.

In a news release, DILG said that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has already filed 12 criminal complaints against 23 village officials nationwide over the SAP distribution disputes.

The DILG, however, has not disclosed yet the specific barangays where the respondents are connected.

The charges include violation of the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Bayanihan Act.

Four additional charges are also expected to be filed against them while 110 other barangay officials are under “case build-up” after the department was swamped with reports on alleged graft and corrupt practices at the height of the SAP scheduled distribution.

According to the DILG, most of the cases involved anomalies allegedly made by punong barangays, barangay kagawads, barangay treasurers, barangay secretaries, barangay employees, purok leaders, and social workers.

These anomalies include falsification of the SAP master list to delist beneficiaries and the collection of cuts or “tara” from some beneficiaries.

Aside from the Cebu City BHW, a social worker from Lapu-Lapu City is also under investigation for enlisting her mother, siblings, an in-law, and her son’s girlfriend as SAP beneficiaries.

READ: Lapu social worker faces probe for inclusion of relatives, son’s gf in SAP list

“In Bacolod City, a punong barangay, barangay secretary, purok president and liaison officer to the barangay allegedly connived and took back P4,000 each from the possession of 7 SAP beneficiaries after receiving their P6,000 individual cash aid,” DILG said.

A similar incident was reported in Peñablanca, Cagayan where a SAP beneficiary filed a complaint against a barangay kagawad after the latter demanded that the beneficiary should give him P4,000 out of the P5,000 aid that she received as he was the one who caused her to be included in the list.

“Sunod-sunod na ang pagsampa ng kaso ng PNP-CIDG laban sa mga tiwaling opisyal ng barangay at sa kanilang mga kasabwat sa mga anomalya sa pagbibigay ng SAP. Puspusan na rin ang imbestigasyon at case build-up para masigurong makakalaboso ang mga walang-hiyang tao na ito na nakuha pang manggantso sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said.

DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya said the barangay officials who took the SAP to their advantage “were like leeches who suck the blood” out of the government’s assistance.

“Umasa ang taong bayan na sila ang magiging sandigan nila sa panahon ng pandemya pero binigo nila ang mga mamamayan. Para silang linta na hinigop ang tanging pag-asa ng mga tao ngayong Covid-19,”Malaya said.

Malaya added that the PNP is now pursuing its investigation on the SAP anomalies considering that the second tranche of the assistance is expected by the end of May.

He said the PNP is now hard at work in pursuing the investigations and the filing of cases especially now that the government is set to release the second tranche of the SAP emergency subsidy for low-income families later this month. / dcb