A review of the list of recipients of the P5,000 Cash Relief Assistance released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently showed that 147 of them were not registered tricycle drivers or holders of Municipal Tricycle Operator’s Permit (MTOP).
Documents obtained by the Tribune indicated that the unregistered or non-MTOP holders received the benefit just by being on the list and presenting their driver’s licenses despite their ineligibility.
According to the analysis made by the Sangguniang Bayan at the direction of Vice Mayor Lemuel Surtida, a total of 794 individuals were given the P5,000 cash, with the alleged ineligible recipients representing over 18 percent of the total.
Only 647 beneficiaries in the DSWD list were deemed eligible as they were registered as drivers and/or MTOP holders.
The municipal council also discovered that 179 legitimate tricycle drivers were not able to get the benefit while the DSWD list of unserved beneficiaries also included 20 duplicate names of recipients, five (5) unregistered tricycle drivers, five ineligible drivers including a bus driver, one who was already dead, and one who had no driver’s license.
Three of the unserved individuals in the list either had expired driver’s licenses or had theirs suspended for a violation.
The lists will be submitted to a fact-finding committee to be chaired by Councilor Fred A. Gianan Jr., who is the lone lawyer in the legislative body.
It may be recalled that the controversy over the cash aid anomaly came to light after Vice Mayor Surtida
delivered a privilege speech expressing serious concern over the confusion and possible irregularities over the listing of MTOP holders for the national government’s cash aid for tricycle drivers affected by the spiraling fuel cost.
The vice mayor said he had received information regarding the existence of another list different from the one submitted by the municipal government.
“I was surprised to learn that there were claims that some of the names in the list were not tricycle drivers or legitimate MTOP holders, while some of them were either permanent employees or job order personnel of the municipal government,” Surtida stated after learning of the existence of the second list different from the one submitted by the municipal government,
He also claimed that some of the persons inserted in the list were told to expect that they would be given only half of the P5,000 cash aid, with the other half to go to those who made the list.
The controversy prompted the Sangguniang Bayan of Virac to issue an official statement stating that it had no participation in, nor knowledge of, the preparation and submission of the said second list.
The chairman of the SB transportation committee, Councilor Alexander Abundo, later admitted in a post on his social media page that representatives from the office of Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez came to his office to secure the list of Municipal Tricycle Operator’s Permit (MTOP) holders.
He claimed that when they first tried to get the list from the Sangguniang Bayan secretary, they learned that the list was not yet complete and acted to look for the correct and updated list from the Municipal Engineering Office.
He insisted that the Sanggunian list and the list he submitted was one and the same and that he made sure that all legitimate tricycle franchises were included.
Under the guidelines for the Cash Relief Assistance, which is under the AICS program, the validated list of qualified transport drivers or operators should be submitted by the LGUs, the local SWDOs or the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).