ILOILO City – From May 6 to 29, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) has charged 39 persons for alleged anomalies in the distribution of emergency cash assistance from the national government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
Of the 39, 11 were barangay captains, eight were barangay councilmen, eight were barangay secretaries, five were barangay health workers, one purok leader, two liaison officers, one municipal social welfare officer, and three were civilians.
In coordination with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the PRO-6 filed the following charges against the 39 individuals:
* violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act)
* violation of RA 11469 (An Act Declaring the Existence of a National Emergency Arising from the Coronavirus Disease 2019)
* violation of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees)
* falsification and use of falsified documents
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, regional police director, commended the people who mustered courage to report the alleged anomalies.
“We continue to appeal to the public. Report to the nearest police station or PRO-6 irregularities in the distribution of SAP,” said Pamuspusan.
In this time of pandemic, corruption has no place in Western Visayas, he stressed.
SAP is a cash emergency subsidy program mandated by the new law, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 25, 2020.
The program is headed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2020 signed by the implementing departments states that each qualified family can receive between P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months for basic food, medicine, and toiletries.
The amount varies, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage rates and takes into account the other subsidy programs in cash or in-kind, under the DSWD.
In Western Visayas, the subsidy is P6,000 for each beneficiary (per family or household basis).
The government stressed that SAP’s priority are families who need cash assistance the most, particularly those belonging in the informal sector whose livelihood has been most affected by the quarantine./PN
