Año says 30 barangay officials probed on cash aid referred to Ombudsman

June 5, 2020

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday said 30 out of the 155 barangay officials they are investigating are  referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.

In his report to President Rodrigo Duterte, Año said they are continuously identifying and filing cases against barangay officials for Social Amelioration Program (SAP) anomalies

“We have investigated 155 barangay captains and officials and 30 (of them) were already referred to the Ombudsman,” he said.

The DILG chief said the increase in the number of complainant is due to the posting of names of beneficiaries in barangay halls.

“We will file a case against these officials because what they did is against the law,” Año said.

Earlier, DILG said a total of 301 barangay officials were facing criminal charges for corruption practices in SAP distribution after the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) completed their investigation and case-build up against them

Año told Duterte more barangay officials will be added, especially those who included all members of their family in the SAP beneficiary.

He also told Duterte that the second tranche of the SAP distribution is ready and they will prioritize the additional five million families who were not included on the first tranche.

“Based on the last report, 4, 094, 311 names were submitted by the LGUs (local government units), and they will be the priority,” Año said.

Año said they will use ATM payment scheme to fast track the distribution. Ella Dionisio/DMS