Why not give 'ayuda' for transport workers through e-wallets? DSWD says it has to be prudent

Secretary Rex Gatchalian of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Tuesday that the government would have lost billions of pesos if all ayuda or aid payouts for the transport sector were done via electronic wallet (ewallet) system due to an "inaccurate" beneficiary list.

Gatchalian made the statement during the briefing by concerned government agencies relative to ongoing and proposed measures and actions in response to the fuel crisis before the House transportation panel.

“A lot of stakeholders have been asking us, why do we not want to use e-wallets, especially for app-based or ride-hailing platforms whose commissions na are based or paid in GCash. [But] the DSWD operates with one simple premise, a clean list," Gatchalian said. 

“Here, the lists are coming from the TNC (transport network companies) and the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board). It did not come from us. It is not that we don't want to use e-wallets because we already do it for our programs, but we have to exercise prudence," he explained. 

Gatchalian described the list as "junk" which he said could have cost the government billions of pesos.

"Unfortunately, especially for delivery service, MC Taxi and TNVS, we're not getting a clean list. We're getting what we call the junk list because napakagulo nung mga listahan. If off the bat we received such list and we credited the aid payout to GCash, the government would have lost P2.754 billion,” Gatchalian added.

Problems

Gatchalian said that for government payouts, knowing the genuine existence of the customer is necessary. 

“Are we talking about a real person here? And is this person really a driver [of a public utility transport]? Does he have a driver’s license? You'll be amazed, Mr. Chairman, that in some of our payouts, there are those who go there with expired driver’s license, and even those with no driver’s license and yet they claim that they are drivers,” Gatchalian said. 

Gatchalian said other problems include the following: 

• The same person having two entries because the driver is on two different transport networking platforms
• The person in the list does not have a middle name stated, which results in double entries
• Two persons sharing the same name, same birth month and birth date but different birth year on two different platforms

“Our system will print it out two times, but if you really think about it, it is just one person,” he said.

“So we're asking the public to understand where we're coming from na dahil napaka-dumi ng mga listahan, lalong-lalo na yung galing sa mga transport networking companies or TNCs for delivery service, MCTaxi and TNVS. But rest assured, if and when there will be second or third rounds of payouts, depending on the situation, we already have a clean list and we would have high confidence to load it up in GCash,. In fact, we already have a standing partnership with most of these ewallets,” Gatchalian added. —VAL, GMA News