COA flags DA over 58,000 ‘unqualified’ farmer beneficiaries 

The Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the Department of Agriculture (DA) after 58,784 rice farmers who were recipients of cash assistance were found unqualified. 

According to a report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, the annual audit report by state auditors showed that the recipients were not qualified for the “Rice Farmers Financial Assistance” program due to various reasons: they are not registered to the program; lack of documents submitted; and some were not even farmers. 

COA also observed that some of the beneficiaries have already passed away, inactive, or are not included in the masterlist of qualified recipients. 

However, the more than 50,000 beneficiaries still received P5,000 cash grants, with some receiving double the amount. 

Meanwhile, over 40 rice farmers were not able to receive anything despite being qualified due to lack of coordination and field validation. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News