At least five families in San Andres town received the P25,000 Social Amelioration cash assistance twice during the 2020 community quarantine, the Commission on Audit said in its Annual Audit Report for the town’s transactions for that year.
The audit showed that 125 or less than 3 percent of the Social Amelioration Cards used as basis of the cash transfers were detected with the same names of family members declared in two SAC forms.
However, upon scrutiny, 115 were found to be still eligible for the assistance.
The audit team discovered that 10 of the detected SAC forms indicated that at least five families had executed two separate SAC forms in two barangays that allowed them to receive twice the cash subsidy.
Two of the families had two separate houses in different barangays, with the spouses asserting themselves as family heads and executing separate SAC forms in each barangay, the report said.
Two single siblings with no families of their own declared themselves as FHs in two forms in one barangay, it added.
One family head submitted a SAC form declaring his single son as family member but the latter represented himself as family head and submitted his own SAC form in another barangay, registering his male partner as his family member.
In the fourth case, one female household head declared her child and live-in partner as family members although she only lived with her child and siblings during the quarantine.
The team also detected one family being listed twice in the master list under two separate SAC forms in one barangay although they received the grant only once.
The amount of P80,000 was given as cash assistance to families whose members are either government employees, job orders or appointed and elected barangay officials.
The MSWDO claimed that there was a directive from DSWD allowing casual employees to receive the benefit but no actual copy of the document was given to COA.
Emergency subsidy totaling P90,000 was paid twice to 18 4Ps members who evaded detection by the DSWD personnel.
It concluded that the non-preparation of the master list containing information of family members prior to the preparation of the payroll prevented the detection of duplicates, along with the weakness in internal control, the lack of close coordination between the Punong Barangays and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO).
Among others, the COA urged the local government unit of San Andres to cause the immediate refund of the amount paid to the unqualified beneficiaries and institute measures to deter repetition of the incident.
Eight 4Ps members returned the subsidies they received from the LGU, the MSDWO later reported.
Among the other significant findings of the audit team were: purchases totaling P4.7 million done through Shopping instead of Small Value Procurement modality; Social Pensions totaling P51,000 not utilized as 17 senior citizens already deceased were not delisted from the payroll; calamity assistance totaling P2.94 million to LGU personal granted without valid appropriation; P985.458.24 worth of medicines, rice and grocery items distributed as relief goods “doubtful” as there was no evidence that they were actually received by the legitimate beneficiaries;