Loopholes in cash dole plugged, says DSWD chief

DAVAO CITY—The reported loopholes in the distribution of  the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program uncovered recently by the Commission on Audit (COA) happened in 2010 and have already been addressed, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said.

“We’ve already cleared that out, there’s nothing left to answer that’s why, I was surprised when it came out (in the papers),” said Soliman, who was here for the national consultation workshop with city mayors for the Pantawid Pamilya Program.

“As far as I know, we’ve already answered this, particularly that question about those families who should  not be eligible because they’re not below the poverty line,” she told a press briefing. “We already delisted 6,000 families last year.”

Soliman said not only the list was cleared but also the disbursement process with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH).

She said the problem cropped up because the previous administration suspended the implementation of the program three months before the elections. When it resumed, some beneficiaries received lump sum of the amount they used to receive with some receiving the equivalent of six to nine months.

Soliman said that must have accounted for the overpayment and the “idle funds” referred to by COA.

“I don’t expect to have the same problem this year,” she added.

She also said the DSWD has set up a system that not only monitors the compliance of the beneficiaries but also set a time frame for the  disbursement and liquidation of reports from the municipal level.

In Manila, House appropriations committee chairman Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya said they would look into the COA report on the CCT. –Germelina Lacorte
Inquirer Mindanao with a report from Gil Cabcaungan