CABATUAN, Isabela –– Mayor Charlton Uy said he is investigating village officials, who divided cash grants allocated from the government’s Social Amelioration Program.
Some beneficiaries complained that they were given half of their P5,500-cash aid, purportedly to share their allocations with families not included in the list of approved recipients of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“We will investigate whatever happened to the cash assistance [to determine] what is true. Because the law is the law,” he said on Wednesday evening (April 22).
He also asked families, which took half of the money given to qualified SAP recipients, to return the cash.
Uy earlier posted a suggestion online that the cash aid is divided to benefit more Cabatuan residents. But he said it was issued before Cabatuan received its SAP allocation.
“If you could check all the dates before I gave the statement, no releases [were made] yet… I told the municipal social welfare officer to make sure that [the SAP grants] will be given only to the intended DSWD recipients. When I suggested then to divide, there [were] no guidelines yet but when the rules came out, we [heeded them], of course,” the mayor said.
Villagers who complained to the Inquirer that they were given only P2,750, were reportedly asked to sign documents stipulating that they received the full amount.
The mayor said he would steer clear of the controversy and focus on helping people cope with a Luzon-wide quarantine that was enforced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.
“I would focus on giving weekly relief goods to those in need. We have three more relief goods distribution. I do not care if our economic development fund will be spent just to be sure that we will have money for relief,” Uy said.