The Aquino government’s flagship anti-poverty program suffers from a long list of problems, among them some P330 million in unpaid cash disbursements.
In its 2013 audit on the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Commission on Audit (COA) noted double entries, data errors, delayed cash releases and liquidation issues as other red flags in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps.
“Out of the P10.626 B funds transferred by the DSWD to the Landbank for the payment of 4Ps benefits for 2013 thru the over the counter scheme, only P 10.295 B was utilized or disbursed as of Dec. 31, 2013, leaving behind a balance of P330.347 M, representing unpaid amount intended for beneficiaries in eight regions, P91.929 M of which were unclaimed grants of active beneficiaries in regions IVa, VI, IX and Caraga,” the COA said.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, also called the Conditional Cash Transfer program, is the administration's flagship poverty-alleviation program.
The program gives families cash for keeping their children in school and bringing them to local health centers for check-ups.
As of October 2013, the CCT covered some four million households.
However, some of those beneficiaries either aren’t getting what is due them, or have fallen off the government’s radar, despite close monitoring being part of the project’s premise.
“The unutilized amount could have been reduced had revalidation been intensified on intended beneficiaries who failed to received the grant after every two-month payouts,” the COA said.
The audit body noted that if the reporting process was done correctly, better policies could have been enforced.
“Prompt reporting of the status of the distribution of grants could have provided valuable information for decision makers, which could translate on improved policies or systems of the program,” the COA said.
In the same report, the COA directed DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman to strengthen the monitoring of beneficiaries to prevent the occurrence of unpaid balances.
“We recommend that the DSWD Secretary direct the National Project Management Office (NPMO) and Regional Project Management Office Pantawid Directors to intensify the validation of all unpaid beneficiaries and require prompt reporting on the status of beneficiaries in order that the corresponding changes are effected to arrive at a more reliable and accurate database. This will minimize the occurrence of unpaid grants,” the audit body said.
This is not the first time the COA found the reporting procedures on the CCT unsatisfactory.
In its 2012 annual audit report, the COA said P96.62 million in disbursements did not comply with regulations. Auditors said some P50.15 million of the releases went to 7,782 households not on the list of validated beneficiaries.
For 2013, the COA found at least 4,300 double entries on the list of beneficiaries.
“Duplicate names for 4,320 beneficiaries in the 4Ps payroll in the amount of P46.502 million for CY 2013 not only resulted in incurrence of additional costs for the double payment of grants, but also misstated the Cash and Donation accounts,” the audit body said.
source: COA sees red flags in DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilya Program | News | GMA News Online
COA sees red flags in DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilya Program
katagaan na lang unta tanan ilabi na kadtung ITR below P85K kay di pa man tingali mapobre ang gobierno bah
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