COVID-19 aid mess: West Visayas mayors tell DSWD to explain errors in beneficiary numbers

ILOILO CITY—Several mayors in Western Visayas are calling on the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to publicly explain and apologize after the agency reduced allocations for beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) due to a purported numerical error.

The mayors said they have been put in a quandary because they have already announced to their constituents the number of those who will receive the aid package for those severely affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“I believe I speak for all the (Iloilo) mayors that the DSWD regional office has a lot of explaining to do to our constituents,” Mayor Rosario Mediatrix “Trixie” Fernandez of San Enrique town in Iloilo told INQUIRER.

Fernandez is also president of the provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities.

Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Rhea Penaflor admitted there was “miscommunication” in transmitting allocation figures by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) field office to local government units.

Penaflor, who is in charge of specialized programs at DSWD, said she was going to Iloilo City late on Monday (April 13) and hold a press conference on Tuesday (April 14) to explain what happened.

She gave assurance, though, that the government would look for funds for beneficiaries that would not receive the aid package as a result of the error.

In a letter to mayors, the head of the DSWD office in Western Visayas apologized for the error.

“It is our common interest to expedite the release of the assistance to the beneficiaries,” Peñaflor said.

Fernandez said the mayors were informed early this week that the number of SAP beneficiaries earlier allocated to each local government unit (LGU) in the region was erroneous because this included beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Under SAP guidelines, cash subsidies for 4Ps beneficiaries will be distributed through their cash cards and not downloaded to the LGUs.

In Western Visayas, the SAP cash assistance is P6,000 per family.

Fernandez said she was initially informed by the DSWD that her town was allocated 6,511 beneficiaries or about P39 million. But she was later told that more than 1,700 4Ps beneficiaries will be removed from the list, or equivalent to some P10 million in funding.

“We were made to understand that we will be distributing to 6,511 families and we have finalized the list. What will we do?” Fernandez said.

“The people might blame the village officials and mayors for this mistake,” she said.

Edited by TSB