CITY Councilor James Judith last Thursday said an investigation on the distribution of P767-million Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Covid-19 cash aid through the city’s social welfare and development should be conducted soon.
Judith even argued the notion to move on as the issue of the said cash aid was over.
“How can we move on? We can’t move on if we can’t solve this problem,” Judith said adding “Dili kita maka move on kung walay pagpanubag sa angayan manubag kon ‘accountability.’ Dili kita maka move on kung walay hustisya bahin ani nga isyu.”
Early last week, Judith was appointed chairperson of the ad hoc committee that will conduct a reinvestigation on the distribution of Covid-19 cash assistance.
Judith like the newly assumed DSWD Secretary Erwin Tulfo’s remark was even prompted after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the DSWD as allegedly having failed to distribute cash assistance under the Social Amelioration Program of the government.
Accordingly, the DSWD has returned P1.7 billion to the Bureau of Treasury because these funds were not distributed.
But according to Judith the problem now is that there are people who are saying they didn’t receive any cash assistance.
“A reinvestigation should be conducted to ensure transparency in the disbursement of public funds,” said Judith.
On August 4, 2021, Judith said the city government received a check worth P767.824 million from the DSWD.
It may be recalled that Judith filed a resolution requesting the CSWD to give a status report on the distribution of the Covid-19 Cash Assistance from 2020 to 2021.
Judith said the CSWD will be requested to provide a comprehensive status report of the amelioration assistance, which was distributed to selected beneficiaries in the city when it was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) sometime in 2021.
Meanwhile, in a report provided by the then City Information Office, it has already achieved a 99.75% payout percentage or P765,904,000 from the total budget of P767,824,000 provided by the CSWD as of August 31, leaving only P1,919,000 of unclaimed special aid.
It was also confirmed that the city government received a total of P767,824,000 in funds from the welfare department.
Of this, P765,886,000 was claimed by 293,109 beneficiaries (families and individuals).
However, residents in Cagayan de Oro took to social media to question the 99.75% payout percentage announced by the local government of Cagayan de Oro City on August 31.
Judith said many concerned residents insist that they are confused with the percentage saying a significant number of beneficiaries who are both on the “clean list” and the second batch who have yet to receive their special “ayuda” from the DSWD to families who have been affected by the enhanced community quarantine in the city.
Numerous beneficiaries of the said ECQ special ayuda from different barangays have taken their grievance to hotline numbers provided by their respective barangays and the city but to no avail.
After a debacle during the distribution of the said financial assistance to who should take the reins in distributing the aid the responsibility was later removed from the barangay level and the city government took control of the distribution itself.
This is where things began to go downhill, as even Barangay Nazareth chairman Max ‘Jonjon’ Rodriguez after receiving the “clean list” of beneficiaries from the CSWD who would benefit from the financial assistance was left puzzled and questioned several names repeating itself on the list.
He, however, wasn’t the only one as residents from the said barangay commented and expressed their dismay over not receiving a call from the CSWD even though their names are on the clean list.
“Hangtud karun wala pa gihapun kita nasayud kung gi unsa pag hatag sa maong kantidad. Wala pud kitay hinanawan kung gi unsa pagpili o pagtumbok sa mga benepisaryo,” Judith said.
Judith explained that the allocation of the aid has been reduced and for him, it is still a big issue.
“In reality, not only one, not only two, not only a few did not receive it but many,” said Judith.
Judith, while stressing that the distribution of the cash aid was still under the previous CSWD leadership, he said can still check all these things.
“Let’s call on the DSWD to give the list. Let’s sit it down and call those on the list if they received it,” said Judith adding that “let’s get papers and documents with attachments, and let’s clarify if it’s true the beneficiaries received it.
“Ipa tataw nato sa mga tao nga naa sa listahan kung sila ba gayud ang nagperma.Panawagan nato sa mga kapitan kung adunay kalainan o discrepancy sa ilang listahan nga gisumite ug sa talaan sa CSWD,”said he said.
According to Judith what happened is that all barangays were asked to submit a list from their respective barangays but found out later not the basis for granting aid because CSWD was still verified on their master list.
Judith also added that CSWD even advised residents to check and visit their website for them to see their names and if they are included on their master list or not.
According to Judith, when you visit the city government.ph website, all you can see is the name of the barangays but there is no content under the label barangays.
“While when you click on the list of beneficiaries, the screen says “This is: internal server error,” What is it,” asked Judith.
Judith reiterated that still, the amount of P767 million is unknown until this time.
As for him, with that amount, can build a two-lane highway from Cagayan de Oro to Balingasag and that same amount can buy 306,800 50 kilos of well-milled rice like Yang Chow or 2,556 Gawad Kalinga housing units in Barangay Balubal.
Judith said the reinvestigation was even agreed upon by the City Council committee on social services during its recent meeting presided over by vice-chair Councilor Ian Mark Q. Nacaya.
It may also be recalled that Judith filed a resolution requesting the CSWD to give a status report on the distribution of the Covid-19 Cash Assistance from 2020 to 2021.
“Panawagan nako sa bag ong DSWD Sec. Erwin Tulfo nga matabangan ‘ta sa pag imbestigar ni ini na isyu sa ayuda sa atong dakbayan,” he said.
Judith added that it is still the call of CSWD to enlighten the residents of the city on all cash aid issues.
“The people may not be deprived of their right to know the truth,” said Judith.