Senator raises alleged discrepancy in DSWD data on ‘ayuda’ distribution

Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s data on the distribution of billions in government funds for the social amelioration program (SAP).

At a Senate budget hearing Monday, Lacson noted the alleged discrepancy between the disbursement rate and the figures of distributed SAP funds to target beneficiaries.

"Something doesn’t add up. The DSWD's latest data showed that the agency was able to distribute SAP to 717,372 out of 761,259 target beneficiary families. That would constitute 94.23-percent accomplishment as of August 31, 2021," Lacson said.

However, the same DSWD report indicated that the agency only disbursed 80 percent of the SAP funds.

In response, Hannah Carcido, DSWD officer-in-charge of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau, explained that the department had adjusted the number of its target beneficiaries.

From the 717,372 beneficiaries, it was increased to 855,597 as of January 2021, she added.

The lawmaker also told the DSWD to improve its “poor planning” which he said led them to engage with Starpay, a financial service provider with allegedly questionable financial standing.

The DSWD had engaged with Starpay when they found out that 70 percent of SAP beneficiaries had no or defective mobile phones.

"The DSWD became reactive. It did not determine the beneficiaries' capability to use mobile phones before distributing the aid, so it had to engage financial service providers," Lacson said.

"It should have planned first and determined the capability of the beneficiaries to receive aid via mobile phones. The bottom line is poor planning," he added.

Lacson likewise noted that local government units faced complaints for not distributing the SAP based on the DSWD's data, which was found to be outdated, dating back to 2015.

"Some barangay chairmen agreed among themselves to just redistribute the P5,000 to P8,000 accordingly because the list provided by the DSWD central office was outdated," Lacson said.

"They wanted to adapt to the situation on the ground. We cannot fault the LGUs," he added. — DVM, GMA News