GOVERNMENT auditors have uncovered thousands of names with suspicious or questionable details relative to the distribution of the P91.18 million “Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers” (Tupad) cash assistance program by the provincial government of Pampanga.
The findings were contained in the 2021 audit of the province released last May 16.
Under the Tupad program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), workers who were laid off or lost their means of livelihood from the informal sector were to be given a one-time stipend of P4,200 “to cushion and/or mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to the livelihood/business and worker sector.”
Based on the report, however, more than 23 percent or almost one in four of the 21,710 listed beneficiaries in the Pampanga master list submitted dubious details, including 2,600 who have similar identification cards or ID numbers.
“Review of the said master list showed that of the 21,710 beneficiaries, 5,012 have either the same names and birthdates, contact numbers, type of ID, or ID numbers,” auditors noted.
The biggest number of suspicious recipients was traced to the municipalities of Lubao with 1,365 names; Arayat with 1,290; Magalang with 906, Mexico with 903, and Sasmuan with 490.
Cloning of IDs and ID numbers was the most common violation discovered by the Commission on Audit.
Between Lubao and Arayat, the audit team found 1,289 from each town shared “same type of ID and ID numbers. In addition, there were 60 additional beneficiaries — all from Lubao – who submitted the same cloned IDs.”
Hundreds of Tupad recipients from Mexico (903), Magalang (895), and Sasmuan (490) shared the same contact numbers.
Other anomalies recorded were double payout to the same five names in Magalang, seven in Lubao, two in Candaba, five in Mabalacat, nine in Guagua, eight in the City of San Fernando, and three in Sta. Rita.
The COA said a common contact number for thousands of beneficiaries made verification nearly impossible, more so with recipients who submitted numbers that are expired or no longer working.
“It would be difficult to confirm actual receipt by beneficiary of the financial assistance since most of the numbers called belong only to one beneficiary. Moreover, the registered 850 contact numbers were not reliable since these can neither be reached nor (were) the correct number,” the audit team said.
In Magalang, one person was able to claim pay out to 35 Tupad beneficiaries.
While collection by proxy is allowed, the DOLE required that the substitute must be an immediate family member of the recipient.
A random check showed there were 16 workers whose names were submitted and their Tupad benefits paid but all of whom told auditors that they did not get a centavo of the cash assistance.
The province’s Public Employment Services Office (PESO) attributed the ID-cloning to the difficulty in drawing up a list of beneficiaries within the limited period allowed in the middle of a pandemic.
It said the profiling, encoding, and printing was not accomplished in the provincial level but was entrusted to municipal governments through their municipal PESO officers.
“Due to the urgency of service delivery, the Provincial PESO also over-looked the checking of the submitted list as they are time-bound to forward the list of the municipalities to the DOLE Provincial Field Office for group insurance enrollment,” the report noted.
It added that the duplication of names may be explained by the implementation of the Tupad in 2020 and 2021 since the same recipients are allowed to receive the assistance as long as it is not on the same year.
The province assured the COA that procedures are being evaluated to improve compliance and prevent recurrence of adverse audit findings.
