ILOILO City – Despite multiple sworn affidavits already filed before the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) implicating barangay officials in the alleged illegal deductions from the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) payouts, the city’s Liga ng mga Barangay president Ma. Irene Ong maintained that she has not received a single formal complaint from any barangay.
Ong said she has directed all barangay chairpersons to immediately escalate any grievance related to the issue.
“I have already told the barangay captains to forward to me any complaint they receive. But as of now, I have not received any formal complaint,” she said.
The allegations, which first surfaced on social media, claim that some AICS beneficiaries received only P1,000 to P2,000 out of the intended P10,000 cash assistance, with barangay officials supposedly pocketing P8,000 to P9,000 per beneficiary.
But Ong stressed that the Liga cannot act on online posts alone.
“The complaint must be formal. It cannot be just on Facebook. We cannot investigate if we do not receive a written complaint,” she emphasized.
She also said barangay captains have denied involvement in any such scheme.
“The Punong Barangays deny having anything to do with this. They also said they have not heard of anything like this happening,” Ong noted, adding that she was surprised by the sudden controversy. “I have no idea about this incident. This is the first time something like this has happened.”
However, DSWD assistant secretary for regional operations Paul Ledesma earlier disclosed that 11 beneficiaries from 16 barangays in Arevalo and Jaro have already executed complete and detailed affidavits.
According to Ledesma, these sworn statements are sufficient to support the filing of criminal complaints against barangay officials allegedly involved in collecting unauthorized deductions from the cash aid./PN
