DSWD: Ifugao beneficiaries to get cash grants after probe into P2.7-M robbery

After P2.7 million worth of payouts for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries were stolen in Ifugao, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said that cash disbursement would resume after a “thorough investigation” of the robbery-holdup incident.

“The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) assured the DSWD that the pay-out will be rescheduled once the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Tinoc and members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have finished investigating the incident and have cleared the area where the incident took place,” DSWD said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Department apologizes for any inconvenience the incident may have caused the beneficiaries,” DSWD added.

The department also said that according to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) field office, the money was intended for the conditional cash transfer (CTT) of 1,269 4Ps beneficiaries in the town of Tinoc in Ifugao.

Initial police report indicates that three members of the Lagawe Multipurpose Development Cooperative (LMDC) were on the way to Tinoc aboard motorcycles when armed men stopped them and took the money.

READ: Highway robbers steal DSWD’s P2.7-M fund for CCT beneficiaries in Ifugao

DSWD, through LBP, instructed LMDC to distribute money for 4Ps beneficiaries in several Ifugao municipalities.

DSWD said that it tapped the LBP to release cash grants to over four million 4P beneficiaries.  The department also authorized LBP to “identify, negotiate, accredit, and enter separate agreements.” /je