Isabela villagers complain about ‘sharing’ SAP cash

CABATUAN, Isabela –– Disgruntled residents have complained that they were forced to share half (P2,750) of their P5,500 allocation from the social amelioration program (SAP) with other recipients.

Some of them claimed they were made to acknowledge receiving the full amount from the Department of Social Welfare and Development but were told beforehand that they would have to donate some of the cash grants.

“After signing, we went to a village official’s home to share the money,” said Cynthia (not her real name). The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Cabatuan Mayor Charlton Uy did not respond to the allegations when newsmen reached out to him for comment. However, in a Facebook Live post, the mayor said the local government had decided to divide the fund to benefit more recipients.

Uy explained that the beneficiaries listed by DSWD were only 7,282 families, who would get grants from a P80,102,000 budget. The mayor said Cabatuan has 13,700 families.

Jeanet Antolin-Lozano, the DSWD spokesman for the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in Tuguegarao City, said the agency is verifying the information and has been collecting the names of the recipients who received less than the P5,500 cash grant.

Each qualified family can receive a monthly grant of P5,000 or up to P8,000 for the two successive months of quarantine, which was enforced in Luzon to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The grants would be spent on food, medicine, and toiletries if a household has a senior citizen, a person with a disability, someone who is pregnant, a solo parent, or an overseas Filipino worker in distress.

Beneficiaries may also be indigent, underprivileged, and homeless, under Republic Act No. 11469 (the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act).

LZB