Rolando Bautista
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) withheld the release of P10 billion worth of cash assistance to poor households affected by COVID-19 after an order from Malacañang reduced the number of beneficiaries by 4 million families.
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday on his department’s proposed P169-billion budget for 2021, Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista said the DSWD had been keeping huge unspent funds, which he was considering returning to the national treasury.
His statement contradicted that of President Duterte who had repeatedly said that the government had run out of money to help people left jobless by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
Several senators were perplexed by Bautista’s plan, with Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto pointing out that even residents in his home province of Batangas had complained about the lack of cash aid from government.
According to Bautista, the recipients went from 18 million low-income families for the first tranche to 14 million households for the second phase.
Paul Tacorda, DSWD legal office chief, said the agency received a letter from the Office of the President on May 22 directing them to bring down to “12 to 14 million” the recipients from the first tranche and provide financial aid to the “wait-listed group identified by the President.”
“The 4 million beneficiaries were not [included] in the second tranche because of these instructions from the Office of the President,” he explained.
“Many mayors are complaining that their constituents have not received the second tranche … It doesn’t make sense to me if this money is returned to the treasury,” Recto told DSWD officials during the online budget hearing.
He reiterated that Republic Act No. 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, explicitly stated that the cash doleout of P5,000 to P8,000 was intended to benefit 18 million poor households in two tranches.
“The law is clear. [Eighteen] million families are entitled to [cash aid],” Recto told the Inquirer in a Viber message.
Sen. Nancy Binay also expressed surprise at Bautista’s remarks, saying she could not understand why “you still have P10 billion in savings.” INQ