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DOJ chief to order prosecutors to prioritize complaints over cash aid distribution anomalies
By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said he will order prosecutors to prioritize the investigation of complaints against barangay officials over the distribution of emergency cash subsidy during the COVID-19 crisis.
"I will direct our prosecutors to give priority attention to the preliminary investigation of these criminal complaints," Guevarra said in a message to reporters.
The preliminary investigation is the stage in criminal proceedings in which prosecutors determine whether or not to file charges against the respondents in court.
Twenty-three barangay officials face criminal complaints for alleged anomalies in the distribution of cash assistance under the government's social amelioration program, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The barangay officials face complaints for alleged violation of the anti-graft law and of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the law providing for the emergency subsidy and giving President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis.
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Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said four more complaints will be filed in the coming days. Over a hundred more barangay officials are under case build-up over reports that they were involved in graft and corruption, he said.
Under the social amelioration program, low-income families affected by the COVID-19 crisis will get P5,000 to P8,000 in April and in May. More than P78 billion has been distributed to 12.8 million beneficiaries as of last Saturday, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Alleged irregularities in its distribution include barangay officials demanding a part of the cash back and giving financial assistance to relatives who are unqualified for the program.
The DILG has urged the public to report corrupt activities of officials in their localities. —AOL, GMA News