MANILA – In a virtual Palace briefing on Monday, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista revealed one of the reasons why there were only 500,000 downloads as opposed to 1.8 million beneficiaries, as claimed by Senator Manny Pacquiao.
StarPay, one of the SAP’s financial service providers (FSPs), distributes cash help to beneficiaries not only through its app but also through other channels.
On Saturday, the champion boxer stated that the DSWD must account for any lost SAP funds.
“Ang ibang benepisyaryo ay nakatanggap ng financial aid sa pamamagitan ng mga conduits na affiliated sa financial service provider for StarPay. Ang conduit nito ay maaaring (The beneficiaries have also received financial aid through conduits affiliated with our financial service provider StarPay. The conduit could have been) MLhuiller, USSC, and others,” Bautista said.
According to statistics, the FSPs operated with their conduits as other SAP beneficiaries do not own a smartphone, have data quality challenges, or connectivity concerns.
Bautista explained that beneficiaries were given reference numbers so that they may continue to cash out their SAP help through FSP conduits.
“The reference numbers were from the FSPs. They were assisted by the DSWD Field Offices to disseminate those to the beneficiaries,” he added.
Bautista also stated that he would like to know the source of Pacquiao’s data, as he left for the United States hours after his alleged tell-all press conference.
Pacquiao’s office has not sought out to them for access to their data or transparency reports on SAP implementation, according to DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao.
The DSWD awaits an invitation to participate hearings or inquiries into the allegations of missing funds.
