MANILA—Like one organizational development expert once said, “honesty is the only policy” for a truly empowered organization, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) calls for more transparency in the distribution of funds under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, also a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging and Infectious Disease, on Saturday directed barangay chief executives or punong barangays to make public the names of SAP beneficiaries under their jurisdiction.
Sec. Año said punong barangays must fully disclosed the list of their beneficiaries to ensure “honesty”, “transparency” and orderly management” of the funds of the program provided by the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The action of the DILG secretary may have been the response of the department on a number of alleged complaints that reached him from the field about the selection process of recipients and distribution of the subsidy to intended households. The local government units are directly involved in the selection and distribution of the said assistance after the funds are downloaded to them by the DSWD.
On Thursday, DSWD USec. Luzviminda Ilagan issued a statement urging residents to come out and report any discrepancy and anomaly in the distribution of the aid to their barangays and DSWD offices in the country. She made this statement after a case was brought to her attention about a resident in Barangay 5-A in Davao City who ran amok after learning that he was not in the list of recipients in the barangay.
Sec. Año further said that a list of beneficiaries can be posted in conspicuous places in the barangay such as in barangay halls, city or municipal halls, public multi-purpose centers, gymnasium, social center, transport terminals, public markets, hospitals and health stations.
“It is very important to broadcast their lists so the citizens will be enlightened and well-informed that the priority recipients (of the SAP aid) are the poorest families who have no means to earn a living in the middle of the crisis”, he said.
He added that “our intention is to make sure that the local government units have a complete and correct list of beneficiaries, and if the list is not correct, said unit can take the necessary course of action and inform the DSWD.”
