Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 437 local officials and their civilian conspirators are now facing criminal complaints while 626 others are under investigation by the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for alleged anomalies in the payouts of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday said that of the 437 individuals, 203 are elected public officials, including a municipal mayor, city or municipal councilors, barangay captains, barangay kagawads, Sangguniang Kabataan chairpersons and SK councilors.
Another 102 are barangay and city personnel, including barangay secretaries, treasurers, health workers, homeowners’ association officers, purok leaders, city or municipal social welfare and development officers, SAP enumerators and day care teachers. The remaining 132 are civilians.
“Sobrang nakakadismaya na nagawa pa nilang mangurakot sa ayudang nakalaan para sa sa ating mga kababayan na lubhang apektado ng pandemya,” Año said in a statement, as he assured that the DILG and the PNP will continue filing cases against officials corrupting SAP funds.
(It is disappointing that they managed to get involved in corruption involving funds allotted for our countrymen who were greatly affected by the pandemic.)
The DILG earlier filed complaints against 50 barangay officials from among those currently being investigated, with a prayer for their immediate preventive suspension.
Año said the majority of the cases filed were violations of the Republic Act No. 3019 or Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; RA 11469 or the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act; and RA 11332 or the Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases.
Año said that of the 336 SAP related-cases monitored by the PNP-CIDG, 240 were already filed with the prosecutors’ office, three are up for case filing, six were endorsed to other agencies, 46 are under investigation or case build-up, and 41 were dismissed for lack of probable cause or insufficient evidence.
On the regional level, 50 cases were filed in the Soccsksargen region, 40 in Western Visayas, 33 in Central Visayas, 30 in Calabarzon, 26 in Eastern Visayas, 24 in the Davao Region and 21 in Metro Manila.
There are also 16 cases in the Bicol region, 14 in Mimaropa, 15 in the Ilocos region, 14 in Cagayan Valley, 12 in Northern Mindanao, 12 in Caraga, 10 in Cordillera Administrative Region and two in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.