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‘Ghost’ senior citizens cost Makati P367.5 million –official
By AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMA News
(Updated 5:06 p.m.) Some P367.5 million in funds for senior citizens in Makati City were allegedly missing due to "ghost" beneficiaries, a city official said Thursday during the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing on alleged anomalies linked to Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Arthur Cruto, head of the Makati Action Center, said based on the initial findings of their audit, some 31,280 names on the official list of 68,187 senior citizens in the city were not residents and cannot be found in the addresses given.
“Kung P11,750 ang natatanggap per year ng bawat senior citizen, sa 68,187 senior citizens, may P799 million na ginagastos ang Makati kada taon. Pero lumalabas sa initial audit na 36,720 ang talaga ang kwalipikado, P367.5 million ang nawawala kada taon sa likod ng Senior Citizens Blu Card program,” he said.
Binay: Senate hearing a 'teleserye'
Binay, who served as Makati mayor for several terms, denied the allegations, saying they follow a strict process in their senior citizens program. He described the Senate hearing as a "teleserye."
"May proseso naman. Hindi ka naman basta-basta pwede maging beneficiary," he said in a speech delivered right after a Mass in Barangay Pembo, Makati City, on Thursday morning.
He was joined by his children, suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and Senator Nancy Binay.
Audit results
In the Senate hearing, Cruto said they were able to finish auditing 14 of the city's 33 barangays.
He said based on their initial findings at Brgy. Kasilawan, one of the smallest barangays in Makati, only 660 out of 1,095 listed senior citizens were registered voters while 435 others cannot be found.
Cruto said in Brgy. Pinagkaisahan, of the 938 listed beneficiaries, they were able to locate only 449 while 489 others were not registered residents of Makati.
He said they also found out that 25 senior citizens have the same address.
Cruto saud they also found out that at least two of those on the list have been dead for two years. “Hindi pa tinanggal yung pangalan nila sa listahan at meron pang tumatanggap ng cash benefit nila at nakapirma sa kanilang pangalan,” he said.
Koko wants evidence
Senator Aquilio "Koko" Pimentel III asked Cruto to look into the actual allocation made by the city government for the senior citizen program.
“Minultiply ninyo ang ang number ng listed beneficiaries sa P11,760 na matatanggap bawat taon ng isang senior citizen. Bakit hindi masilip sa ordinance ang actual na in-allocate na pondo para makita natin 'yung official na inilaan ng Makati,” he said.
Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado said Cruto won’t find any amount in the ordinance as the amount is on lump sum.
“Nakalumpsum ang budget sa Office of the Mayor, walang nakatapat na amount sa project kaya walang limit kung paanong gagastusin,” he said.
But Pimentel still insisted that Cruto make a research on the actual fund.
“These are very serious allegations. Bibigyan natin ng weight ang conclusion ninyo kung tama ang methodology ninyo,” he said.
Cruto was a barangay kagawad prior to his appointment to the Makati Action Center.
Arthur Cruto, head of the Makati Action Center, said based on the initial findings of their audit, some 31,280 names on the official list of 68,187 senior citizens in the city were not residents and cannot be found in the addresses given.
“Kung P11,750 ang natatanggap per year ng bawat senior citizen, sa 68,187 senior citizens, may P799 million na ginagastos ang Makati kada taon. Pero lumalabas sa initial audit na 36,720 ang talaga ang kwalipikado, P367.5 million ang nawawala kada taon sa likod ng Senior Citizens Blu Card program,” he said.
In an interview after the hearing, Cruto admitted that the figures he mentioned were projections or estimates based on the result of the audit they conducted on two smallest barangays of Makati—Kasilawan and Pinagkaisahan.
“Projection po, estimate po yun. Lahat ng binanggit ko kanina initial findings and estimate projection,” he told reporters.
Binay, who served as Makati mayor for several terms, denied the allegations, saying they follow a strict process in their senior citizens program. He described the Senate hearing as a "teleserye."
"May proseso naman. Hindi ka naman basta-basta pwede maging beneficiary," he said in a speech delivered right after a Mass in Barangay Pembo, Makati City, on Thursday morning.
He was joined by his children, suspended Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and Senator Nancy Binay.
Audit results
In the Senate hearing, Cruto said they were able to finish auditing 14 of the city's 33 barangays.
“Probably at the end of this year, matapos na po natin ang audit at masusing mapag-aralan dahil data po yan, record po yan,” he said in the interview with reporters.
He said based on their initial findings at Brgy. Kasilawan, one of the smallest barangays in Makati, only 660 out of 1,095 listed senior citizens were registered voters while 435 others cannot be found.
Cruto said in Brgy. Pinagkaisahan, of the 938 listed beneficiaries, they were able to locate only 449 while 489 others were not registered residents of Makati.
He said they also found out that 25 senior citizens have the same address.
Cruto saud they also found out that at least two of those on the list have been dead for two years. “Hindi pa tinanggal yung pangalan nila sa listahan at meron pang tumatanggap ng cash benefit nila at nakapirma sa kanilang pangalan,” he said.
Koko wants evidence
Senator Aquilio "Koko" Pimentel III asked Cruto to look into the actual allocation made by the city government for the senior citizen program.
“Minultiply ninyo ang ang number ng listed beneficiaries sa P11,760 na matatanggap bawat taon ng isang senior citizen. Bakit hindi masilip sa ordinance ang actual na in-allocate na pondo para makita natin 'yung official na inilaan ng Makati,” he said.
Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado said Cruto won’t find any amount in the ordinance as the amount is on lump sum.
“Nakalumpsum ang budget sa Office of the Mayor, walang nakatapat na amount sa project kaya walang limit kung paanong gagastusin,” he said.
But Pimentel still insisted that Cruto make a research on the actual fund.
“These are very serious allegations. Bibigyan natin ng weight ang conclusion ninyo kung tama ang methodology ninyo,” he said.
Cruto was a barangay kagawad prior to his appointment to the Makati Action Center.
Later after the hearing, Pimentel admitted that he cannot consider Cruto’s figures as factual although he believed the projection has basis.
“That is a projection...hindi pa natin masabing factual yan. But that is a projection and there’s basis,” he said.
He said once Cruto’s team finished their audit and submit the result to the subcommittee, it could be turned to the Commission on Audit for further checking.
“Iyong report niya kung maganda yung methodology nila, we can submit this also to the COA for the COA to take a look at the methodology, conclusions and then for them to also do some audit,” he said.
Pimentel said he intends to call the head of the Makati Social Welfare Department and Acting Mayor Romulo Peña to give light to the matter. — KBK/RSJ/JST, GMA News
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