The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the administration is serious about the P30,000 bounty for people who can pinpoint officials who are abusing the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) fund.
Alex Roldan, DILG XI director, told TIMES that they received the memorandum from Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday on the reward to clean up the SAP distribution.
“We are expecting reports to surface. This memo is specific to the pocketing of funds. It does not include those complaints by beneficiaries about being excluded from the list,” Roldan said.
Roldan encouraged the public to take photos or videos, if they can, to support their complaints.
President Duterte previously announced that P30,000 will be given to anyone who can provide information on government officials pocketing the cash subsidy intended for the beneficiaries. The police and the DILG are directed to verify and act on the complaints.
The DILG and PNP are also directed to submit all the validated complaints, including the name and contact details of the complainant, to the Office of the Secretary every Friday beginning May 15. A copy of the report will be furnished to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration for the release of the incentive.
Roldan explained the usual modus by local officials to pocket part of the SAP funds.
“The splitting of the benefits in the guise that this would be given to those who were not included in the list,” Roldan said.
“The other example is when the beneficiaries are asked to give a portion of the money to the barangay (supposedly) to defray the operational cost of the barangay in their distribution operation,” he added.
The other scheme is to include the name in the official SAP list on the condition that the beneficiary shares a portion of the subsidy to the barangay official.
Roldan said they received 30 complaints on the SAP prior to receiving the memorandum from the DILG secretary. These complaints were forwarded to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for action.
