THE Commission on Audit has flagged Antipolo City’s payout of P560.51 million under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) over findings that it was not supported by required documents.
Based on records of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 4A, the city government received P579.74 million for the SAP distribution, of which 96.68 percent or P560,514,500 was paid out to recipients.
But non-compliance with procedures, particularly the requirement on full documentation as mandated by Presidential Decree 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, has prompted auditors to raise questions.
“It was noted that the SAP was disbursed despite the absence of barangay certification on his/her residency and valid identification cards with signature… thus, propriety of the transactions could not be readily ascertained,” COA said.
Due to the bulk of transactions involved, the audit said it resorted to a random verification of the fund distribution by calling 56 recipients assigned numbers 6 to 403 on the payroll list.
The audit team found that not even one submitted a certification of residency from the barangay chairman and none submitted a valid ID with signature.
In its response to the audit observation, the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Office said it merely complied with the “directive from the National Government” to relax the requirements.
It insisted that all qualified residents affected by the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and individuals in crisis situation were given the financial assistance through SAP.
The CSWD said it will submit a “blanket certification” to the audit team.
Aside from the SAP payout, auditors also noted that the distribution list concerning food packs purchased out of the P5 million cash assistance from the Office of the President had no indicator of the total number of packs or the quantity of food stuff in each pack.
Pictures provided in support of liquidation said there were six kilograms of rice, four canned goods, noodles and 3-in-1 coffee sachets but there were separate lists of families that received noodles and coffee and those with rice and canned goods.
Still another list said recipients supposedly received powdered milk sachets, and another had biscuits and diapers for families with infants.
“The seemingly disorganized submission of distribution lists and the lack of complete information… precluded the audit team from validating the distributed and remaining balance. Thus the reliability of the distribution of food supplies during the pandemic could not be fully ascertained,” the COA added.
