With the slew of complaints reaching Malacañang on alleged shenanigans committed by certain local government executives in the distribution of over P200 billion-worth of cash grants for coronavirus-hit poor families under President Duterte’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP), Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año should take immediate and forceful action against these abuses by suspending and prosecuting these erring officials, Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, said in a statement these errant officials should be slapped with preventive suspension orders and administrative and criminal cases filed against them by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in compliance with the President’s warning in May to local government unit (LGU) executives against committing any hanky-panky in the selection of SAP beneficiary-households and the release of the payouts to these families.
“File criminal and administrative charges against local elective officials involved in such hanky-panky.”
President Duterte himself had warned officials of local government units (LGUs) not to mess with the SAP grants early on, after the distribution of the first tranche cash grants faced several delays. “Nakita ho naman ninyo mga kababayan ko sa panahong ito lalo na sa umpisa pa lang nagsabi na ako nang prangkahan na huwag na huwag na huwag ninyong haluan ng kalokohang mga programa na ito sa Covid kasi kailangan ito at marami talaga ang nangangailangan ng tulong,” the President said in one of his televised public address to the nation two months ago.
“When you begin to mess up with the law, talagang ginagarantiya ko sa inyo na makukulong talaga kayo,” the President added.
Just this week, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the President was not happy with the delays and the duplications of names uncovered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which is implementing the SAP.
“Secretary Año should take immediate and forceful action to put an end to the SAP irregularities by suspending at once and then filing criminal and administrative charges against local elective officials involved in such hanky-panky,” Villafuerte said, “to put flesh into President Duterte’s earlier warning against public officials not to mess with this relief program for families hit the hardest by the pandemic’s economic fallout.”
Villafuerte said one of these erring officials who should be suspended at once and charged by the DILG for the fraudulent release of the SAP grants is Iriga City Mayor Madelaine Alfelor.
Villafuerte exposed her alleged violations in this week’s hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which started uncovering cases of fraud in the distribution of the SAP grants in certain localities.
The deputy speaker also received copies of affidavits of disgruntled officials and residents of Iriga regarding Alfelor’s violations.
Among them was Sta. Elena Punong Barangay Rodolfo Pungtan, who wrote to President Duterte to complain about the actions of Alfelor and her political allies of excluding from the distribution of Social Amelioration Cards (SAC) certain barangay officials that the mayor publicly acknowledges to be opposed to her.
Pungtan also executed a sworn affidavit stating that he refused when he was told by employees from the Iriga City Social Welfare Office to sign Social Amelioration Card (SAC) forms to make it appear that some tri-mobile operators and drivers were from his barangay when they were not. He believes these supposed beneficiaries were disqualified because they were already listed under the TUPAD program of the Department of Labor and Employment.
This partisan act has allowed Alfelor and her cohorts to make sure that only her chosen beneficiaries and political supporters were able to receive the SAP grants, “while residents, who are in dire need of aid, are being refused help, by reason of their political affiliation or inclination,” said Pungtan.
Pungtan has charged Alfelor and her lackeys before the Iriga City Prosecutor’s Office of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service in relation to the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
During the committee hearing, Villafuerte had presented photos and documentary evidence showing that Alfelor had distributed the cash aid to persons who were unqualified to receive them—in violation of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) she had signed with the DSWD that such grants should be given only to informal workers.
Villafuerte described as “gross abuse” Alfelor’s actions, which included giving the cash subsidy to her relatives and to financially capable individuals.
The Camarines Sur congressman had also deplored Alfelor’s highly-politicized manner of distributing the grants.
The Camarines Sur congressman had also deplored Alfelor’s highly-politicized manner of distributing the grants.
At the committee hearing, Villafuerte detailed Alfelor’s violations, including personally handing out P5,000 in SAP money to employees at the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP), which the deputy speaker for finance claimed to be owned by the mayor’s family.
The cash grants under the SAP are intended for the poorest households and workers subsisting on the “no-work, no pay” setup in the informal sector, as provided under the Bayanihan Law, which Villafuerte co-authored.
Employees of small businesses in the formal sector are entitled to a separate wage subsidy under the over P50-billion Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program of the Social Security System (SSS), Department of Finance (DOF) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Alfelor denied the allegations during the panel hearing, but at least three teachers of the university had submitted written testimonies that they had received the SAP grants.
Marcela Alfelor, Irenea Badiola and Juanita Esplana, who all reside in the town of Baao; and Juvy Calabines and Rudyard Pesimo, both from Buhi, are UNEP employees.
They all received P5,000 each from the SAP even though they do not live in Iriga City. Barangay Kagawad Marilou Garay signed the DSWD payroll on their behalf.
One of UNEP’s grade school teachers, Deocyl Monte Maninang, also confirmed in a sworn affidavit that they received the cash grants personally from Mayor Alfelor, who instructed them not to take photos nor post any on social media about the distribution because “it was a secret activity.” Maninang said that during the distribution of the grants, it was the mayor herself who called out the names of the recipients from some of the barangays.
She said that when her father-in-law, San Roque barangay kagawad Rolando Maninang later learned about it, he told her to return the SAP grant because her husband had already received one. When she gave the P5,000 cash grant to the DSWD along with her written explanation as to why she was returning it, “the clerk-in-charge asked me outright if it was from UNEP and when I answered in the affirmative, she immediately asked me to already give her the amount.”
Maninang said that as far as she knows, three other UNEP teachers–Vincent Riño, Ivy Lakang-lakang, and Kristine Daza also returned their SAP grants to the DSWD.
Another UNEP teacher, Dory Carag and a Criste Olasto Reynes, a midwife employed in the university, also submitted sworn affidavits confirming that the Mayor herself distributed the SAP grants of P5,000 each. Carag also stated in her affidavit that they were later made to fill out new SAP forms to hide the fact that they were employees of the university. Reynes said she returned the amount even though Punong Barangay Darcy Go included her name in the list and signed it, because she knew she was not qualified to receive the grant.
Renato Monedero, the punong barangay of San Antonio, corroborated the allegation that UNEP employees received SAP grants when he executed a sworn affidavit stating that he refused to sign SAC forms that contained the names of the university employees. He said that when he requested for the final list of beneficiaries for barangay San Antonio, the names of four UNEP employees were listed to make it appear that they received the cash grants in the barangay when the truth was that these were distributed to them inside the UNEP campus.
Two other beneficiaries–husband and wife Dennis and Nelissa Nacario–should not have been included in the SAP list presented during the hearing. They do not need the cash grants because they are both financially capable, Villafuerte said.
In another case, Punong Barangay Darcy Go included in the SAP payout list six of his relatives—three of his siblings, two nephews and a niece—who were all able to receive the cash aid of P5,000.
A photo presented by Villafuerte during the hearing showed a luxurious home where the Go family lives, with several sports utility vehicles parked in their compound. Villafuerte likewise presented evidence showing that the Gos own several profitable businesses.
Certainly, the Gos should not have received P5,000 each or a total of P30,000, Villafuerte said.
In fact, they should have been the ones who could have readily given assistance to their impoverished ka-barangays as they reportedly own a food catering service and a general merchandise store, he added.
Senior citizen Santiago Ortega Jr., a long-time Iriga City resident, submitted a sworn affidavit attesting to these violations of Alfelor in the cases of the UNEP employees and the Go family, among other abuses.
“It is an atrocity that while qualified beneficiaries were deprived of much needed assistance, the above unqualified recipients were given Emergency Subsidy Program assistance,” Ortega said in his affidavit.
He called for the preventive suspension of Alfelor and Punong Barangay Go, who, he said, were both liable for grave misconduct and dishonesty.
Copies of Ortega’s affidavit were sent to the Presidential Complaint Center, to Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista and to the Bicol Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Another ineligible beneficiary included by Alfelor in the SAP list was a certain Mark Ali Go, who had proudly shown his travels to various tourist destinations overseas on his Facebook page.
Arman Martirez Lastrella is an example of the many violations committed by Alfelor in the distribution of the SAP grant.
First, Lastrella is Alfelor’s relative; second, he does not reside in Iriga but in Naga City; and third, he is far from being a low-income worker or informal worker as he had visited the United States several times during the pre-pandemic period.
Alfelor also included in the SAP list Edwin and Maria dela Vega, who, although both senior citizens, are financially capable and have children who work abroad.
Villafuerte, who co-chairs the social amelioration cluster of the House Ad Hoc Committee to Defeat Covid-19 (DCC) chaired by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, was aghast upon learning that Alfelor signed a MOA with the DSWD to distribute more than P70 billion in SAP money without even knowing the distinction between formal and informal workers.
The deputy speaker also bared the highly politicized manner in the distribution of the SAP grants, with the testimony of San Roque, Iriga Punong Barangay Michael Emmanuel Alfelor.
The San Roque barangay captain also wrote to President Duterte to expose the Iriga City mayor’s abuses.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am constrained to report to you that by reason the City Mayor’s unfair and unlawful actions, the intended beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program in our Barangay have not been identified as such, and only those chosen by the Mayor’s political allies—not all of whom even deserve to receive the benefits of the program, have benefitted,” Michael Alfelor said in his letter to the President.
He attached in his letter to the President his complaint-affidavit for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against Alfelor and several other city hall and barangay employees.
The barangay official said that not only was he left out in the meetings regarding the SAP grants, many of his constituents who were eligible to receive the cash aid were shut out from the list of beneficiaries.
Villafuerte exposed Alfelor’s ignorance and violations before DSWD officials led by Secretary Rolando Bautista who had attended the panel hearing.
Alfelor denied Villafuerte’s allegations, claiming that she was clueless about these violations, to name a few, because she did not approve the SAP payout list.
But DSWD Secretary Bautista himself confirmed during the hearing that under the Department’s guidelines, the LGU officials have the final say as to who can receive the emergency subsidy to help families hardest hit by the economic fallout from COVID-19.
“Nakasaad po sa MOA. Kung dedetalyehin natin ang MOA ay talagang binigay natin ang responsibilidad sa mga (LGUs) ang pag-identify ng mga beneficiary,” Bautista said during the hearing.
Alfelor claimed during the hearing that she was immuno-compromised as she has Type 2 diabetes and is taking insulin.
But Villafuerte presented photos showing Alfelor going around Iriga City distributing SAP forms, sometimes without any facial mask on.
Villafuerte also found out that she was able to travel to Spain in March, when the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases started to spike in that country and the rest of Europe, despite her supposed immuno-compromised condition.