City official: At least 40% of Makati senior citizens cannot be found in residence, voter’s list

(Updated 8:36 p.m.) An average of at least 40 percent of senior citizens listed among blu card holders in Makati City are ghost beneficiaries, a city official said Wednesday, citing findings from surveys they conducted in several barangays in the city.

At 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 they continued with their survey in five more barangays, from an initial two.

The audit showed that an average of 41 percent of senior citizens listed as beneficiaries of the government's blu card program are not registered voters nor physically present in their indicated addresses.

Comparing data from the local government and the National Statistics Office, Cruto said that if Makati's senior citizens account for 12 percent of the population, it would be "almost double the national average" of 6.8 percent.

"A total of seven barangays na po 'yan, nagho-hold po 'yan (findings), 'di ho bababa ng 40 percent ['yung average]," he said.

Not on list, address

The results Cruto shared at Wednesday's hearing included barangays Carmona, Singkamas, and Sta. Cruz in District 1, and South Cembo and Cembo in District 2.

According to him, the audit conducted in those barangays alone showed that an average of 41 percent of senior citizens in Makati cannot be found on the voter's list, nor in their supposed residences.

In Barangay Carmona, which the Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD) said has 523 senior citizens, only 338 are on the voters' list and in their listed addresses.

In Barangay Singkamas, 375 of 766 senior citizens listed as blu card holders were found, while 711 of 1,362 in Barangay Sta. Cruz were verified.

At South Cembo, 1,073 of 1,547 senior citizens are registered, while only 1,830 of 3,902 in Cembo were listed.

In a hearing last week, Cruto said some P367.5 million in funds for senior citizens in the city were allegedly missing due to "ghost" beneficiaries.

He said some 31,280 names on the official list of 68,187 senior citizens in Makati were not residents.

'No way that ghosts may be enrolled'

For his part, Ryan Barcelo, former officer-in-charge of the MSWD, denied that there are "ghost" senior citizens enrolled in the government's program for the elderly.

He said there was "no way that ghost may be enrolled to the program."

"Nag-apply sila, buhay sila at nag-comply sila sa requirements," he said during Wednesday's hearing, adding Cruto's methodology to verify the number of senior citizens was "unreliable" and "faulty."

In turn, Cruto replied that they took pains to ask not only the residence in question, but also the neighbors.

He said they also requested a list of those who died in Makati, putting them side-by-side with that from the MSWD. —KBK, GMA News