MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Audit (COA) said it found P397.45 million worth of “duplicate, multiple and overlapping” payments to beneficiaries of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
In its 2025 annual audit report, COA noted that some beneficiaries of the AICS program were granted “duplicate” or “multiple” types of assistance, which violated the allowable frequency of payments established under a 2022 DSWD memorandum circular.
Meanwhile, other beneficiaries were able to avail of similar benefits under both the AICS and Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) of the agency, resulting in “overlapping” payments that violated the agency’s 2024 memorandum circular.
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The DSWD explained, however, that these observations stem from a “difference” in the interpretation of the program’s guidelines.
The AICS program, which serves as a “stop-gap measure,” seeks to provide financial, emotional and psychosocial support to families or individuals who experienced a crisis or unexpected life event.
On the other hand, AKAP provides targeted cash assistance to low-income, minimum-wage and informal sector workers who were affected by inflation and do not receive regular government aid from other DSWD programs.
In its report, COA said it found duplicate and overlapping payments made by the DSWD’s central office as well as its field offices in the National Capital Region (NCR), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Davao region.
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The state auditor noted that duplicate or multiple payments granted to AICS beneficiaries had amounted to over P31.357 million.
Of this amount, P18.158 million were made by the DSWD field office in Cagayan Valley. The office, according to the report, provided “duplicate and multiple payments” to 5,560 AICS beneficiaries as well as “overpayments” of assistance to 393,544 beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, overlapping payments to beneficiaries who received assistance from both AICS and AKAP had resulted in disbursements worth P366.096 million.
This amount includes the P337.968 million worth of disbursements under the DSWD’s NCR office, where 46,633 individuals received financial assistance from both AICS and AKAP within the same three-month period.
COA said these issues with the payment of assistance were caused by “deficiencies in data integrity, beneficiary validation and assessment processes, deduplication measures and accountability controls” within the DSWD.
Allowing beneficiaries to receive “duplicate or inappropriate aid,” according to COA, “compromis[ed] fair resources distribution, reduc[ed] operational efficiency and accountability, and heighten[ed] the risk of unnoticed duplicate disbursements.”
As part of its recommendations, the state auditor called on the DSWD to ensure the “diligent” screening, validation, and assessment of its beneficiaries, and also monitor those who avail of multiple benefits.
Asked to comment on the report, DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao clarified in a Viber message to the Inquirer that beneficiaries may avail of multiple assistance or receive payments from both AICS and AKAP “as long as they cover distinct needs.”
She noted, for example, that a beneficiary may receive medical assistance under AICS combined with food assistance from AKAP. Should his or her family member pass away, the beneficiary may even qualify for burial assistance.
“DSWD clarifies that no government funds were wasted and that the observations raised by COA stem primarily from a difference in the interpretation of program guidelines, as well as administrative encoding variations during emergency aid distributions,” Dumlao said. /mr