Interior Secretary Eduardo Año | Inquirer.net File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Local Government Units (LGUs) have until Thursday, May 21, 2020, to submit a list of families who were left-out in earlier distributions but are qualified to receive financial assistance under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
In an advisory posted on their official Facebook page on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said there are still about five million families that were left-out in the SAP distribution based on the estimates of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“Wag po kayong mag-alala, tutulungan po kayo ng ating pamahalaan. We are giving the LGUs three (3) days to submit their initial list to us in DILG and to the DSWD which in turn will validate that list,” said DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año.
“Left-out or waitlisted households” are those low-income families who are not recipients of any Conditional Cash Transfers and who were not included in the initial 18 million households that benefited in the first tranche of the SAP assistance.
“Nakita natin na despite the initial 18 million SAP beneficiaries, marami pa rin sa ating mga kababayan ang nangangailangan ng tulong. These left-out households, around five million of them, will be assisted kaya nakapahalaga na mabuo ng mga LGU ang listahan na ito sa lalong madaling panahon,” Año said.
Año issued a DILG Memorandum Circular to directed the local chief executives to immediately identify low-income households in their respective localities and submit their list to the DILG Regional Offices and the DSWD field offices on or before May 21, 2020.
He said that the initial list should be prepared by the barangays. Beneficiaries should be identified “regardless of the length of stay in the locality and voter’s registration of the members of the household, and must be posted in conspicuous places in the community and on its social media platforms for public viewing and access.”
Año said that those who wanted to lodge complaints or appeals against the barangays’ lists should visit the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office or see their respective mayors. If no action is taken, the complainant may raise his/her concern with the DSWD.
In the Memo Circular, Año clarified that the list that will be coming from the LGUs “shall in no way be construed as the final list of beneficiaries which shall still be subject to further validation by the DSWD.”
“Muli, barangay ang makakatuwang natin dito sa pagbuo ng listahan na ito. Binabalaan ko muli ang ating mga barangay officials na hindi namin sasantuhin ang mga mandaraya rito at maging sa pamimigay ng 2nd tranche ng SAP,” he said.
The DILG earlier said that 23 barangay officials who were involved in graft and corrupt practices in the distribution of SAP assistance are now facing criminal charges. A total of 12 criminal cases have already been filed against these barangay leaders with four more to be filed in the coming days.