MANILA, Philippines — A total of 341 cases related to the distribution of the national government’s social amelioration program (SAP) have so far been filed before different prosecutors’ offices in the country, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Wednesday.
During the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, CIDG Director General Joel Coronel said these cases involve elected public officials, local government workers, social and health workers, and civilians.
Of the 341 cases filed, Coronel said 28 have been resolved while the rest are still pending preliminary investigation.
Coronel said the majority of the cases filed were in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, and the Code of Conduct of Ethical Public Standards.
Other cases, Coronel said, were in relation to perjury, estafa, falsification of documents, grave coercion, and malversation of public funds, among others.
Bulacan 1st District Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, who chairs the committee on good government and public accountability, asked Coronel if there were any shortcomings on the part of CIDG since the number of violators only seem to increase.
According to Coronel, only two suspects have been arrested so far for distributing cash aid to unqualified and unauthorized beneficiaries.
“Imbes na matakot, mukhang nadagdagan pa. Mukhang hindi tayo sineseryoso ng mga kriminal na to at patuloy na ninanakaw ang pera ng ating mga kababayan,” Sy-Alvarado said.
In response, Coronel explained that the directive by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate anomalies related to SAP was only given last May 21, which was already two months behind the date when the SAP distribution started.
“That’s why nagkaroon ng lull from the time the SAP distribution to the investigation. So most of the violations for the anomalous SAP distribution have already been committed. Hindi na natin nahuli,” Coronel said.
“What we are doing in coordination with DSWD and DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) regional offices we are documenting these cases already,” he added.
Further, Coronel said that in pursuant to the instruction of the DILG, as handed by the president, CIDG is now referring cases directly to the Office of the Ombudsman for immediate action, especially against public officials.
Under the SAP, each beneficiary will receive between P5,000 to P8,000 cash subsidy for two tranches based on the prevailing minimum wage rates in their respective regions.
READ: DSWD: 13.5 million beneficiaries received 2nd tranche of SAP, so far