Cash aid waiver can serve as audit paper —SJDM legal exec

The waiver signed by beneficiaries of national government’s cash assistance in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan will serve as a supporting document for the local government’s liquidation of funds, City Legal Officer Elmer Galicia said Saturday.

In an interview with "Dobol B TV," Galicia maintained that the waiver is not illegal and it serves as a “declaration” that the beneficiaries have already received their financial assistance from the local government unit (LGU).

“Ayon sa aming pagre-research ay bahagi po ng maaaring isuporta sa aming government auditing na nakasulat po sa government auditing manual” (Based on our research the waiver can be used as supporting document in government auditing manual), he said referring to the liquidation of funds for Commission on Audit (COA).

Galicia said they will explain the issuance of waiver if the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will require them to do so.

On Friday, the DILG said it is waiting for the explanation of San Jose Del Monte LGU’s explanation on the matter.

Galicia said further that the waiver is intended to make sure that some families will not get “double” financial assistance from the LGU.

“Pinapapirma po natin sila para hindi po nagdo-doble at hindi lalabis sa P4,000 per family” (We asked them to sign to make sure they will not get more than the P4,000 for each family), he pointed out.

Also he noted that that national government only allotted P596 million and the residents here is close to 1 million, about 800 to 900 thousand. 

Moreover, he said that LGUs have no time to validate the number of qualified recipients per family, adding that they only use the list of head of the families under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) as basis for the distribution.

“Ang sabi po ng Joint Memorandum Circular sundin ‘yung SAP list pero alam natin na ang SAP list ay hindi perpekto. Ang sabi rin ng JMC i-validate niyo" (The JMC said the LGUs should follow the SAP list, but the SAP list is not perfect. The circular also stated the need to validate the list), he said.

But he said the LGU has no enough time to validate the list due to lack of manpower.

Galicia reiterated that recipients of cash aid may raise their concerns before the grievance committee, which can also help them verify the number of qualified beneficiaries per family.

A resident, who received only P1,000 instead of P3,000 based on the number of persons in their family,  questioned the waiver, according to a report of Darlene Cay on GMA News’ Unang Balita on Friday.

The national government allocated P22.9 billion for the cash assistance program for the affected residents. They will receive an assistance of P1,000 per individual with a maximum of P4,000 per family.

Due to the rising COVID-19 cases, the government placed National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal—collectively called NCR Plus —under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) for two weeks.

Under the strictest community quarantine classification, the mobility of people is restricted as well as the operation of some businesses, among other restrictions. —LBG, GMA News