DSWD officials grilled over slow distribution of second tranche of cash aid

Officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday were grilled at a House inquiry over the seemingly slow distribution of the second tranche of the emergency cash subsidy to qualified beneficiaries in the country.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, DSWD Undersecretary Danilo Pamonag revealed that out of the around 17 million target beneficiaries, only 1.3 million have so far received the second tranche of the emergency cash subsidy. Most of them are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The target beneficiaries comprise of around 12 million low-income families who are living in areas declared under enhanced community quarantine by Executive Order 112 issued on April 30 and the May 2 memorandum issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, as well as 5 million waitlisted beneficiaries.

Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte decried the figure given by the DSWD, saying that it is only a little over 10% of the DSWD's target beneficiaries, not counting the 5 million waitlisted beneficiaries.

"Doon sa 1.3 million, over 90% are 4Ps, meaning alam na nila kung sino yun at saan, kaya nabigyan. Paano yung 10.7 million nag-aantay?" he said.

'De-duplication'

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said the reason that there was a delay in the distribution of the cash subsidy is that the department has been undergoing "de-duplication" of the names of their target beneficiaries to ensure that no one will receive more than one cash assistance.

"Ang ginagawa natin ngayon, nag-uundergo tayo ng de-duplication. Sa unang stage ng aming de-duplication, nagkaroon ng more or less 48,000 na sinasabi nating doble na ang natanggap na ayuda. Meron ding nakita doon na may mga ineligible, at meron ding questionable na pagkakasali," he said.

"Bukod sa pagde-duplicate doon sa mga grounds, sa field office, papasok na rin dito ang pagde-duplicate sa ibang ahensya ng gobyerno na nagbigay din ng ayuda. Sa pagkakataong ito, yung listahan na talagang mabibigyan natin ay sinisigurado na ito ay malinis at wala itong duplikasyon," he added.

At the same time, Bautista said, some local government units have yet to submit their liquidation reports from the distribution of the first tranche of the cash subsidy.

But Villafuerte said that being too careful that there will be no duplicate names is actually causing much delay.

He pointed out that based on the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the DSWD and local government units (LGU), cash subsidies given to duplicate and ineligible beneficiaries will have to be refunded.

"The fear of duplication should not prevent the DSWD from fast-tracking the distribution of the second tranche," he said.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said that while the said provision is found in the MOA, it cannot be applied in the second tranche of cash subsidy since it is now the DSWD that distributes the assistance to beneficiaries, not the LGUs.

"On the second tranche, since the DSWD will be the one who's going to pay the beneficiaries, hindi namin pwedeng bawiin yun kay LGU. So kami na yung may sole responsibility if duplication occurs on the second tranche. Kaya medyo maingat talaga si DSWD," she said.

DSWD Undersecretary Aimee Neri also said that the department has signed a multilateral agreement with financial service providers like GCash and Paymaya to fast-track the distribution of cash subsidies through digital payment.

"With the signing of the multilateral agreement with financial service providers, as to the clean list beneficiaries, we shared the same already to the financial service providers," she said.

"GCash has already disbursed as of July 5 to around 101,000 beneficiaries consisting Makati City, Quezon City, Caloocan City," she added.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, around 18 million low-income households belonging to the informal sector will be targeted to receive monthly emergency subsidies amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 for two months.

The distribution of the second tranche of COVID-19 cash subsidy began on June 17. — BM, GMA News