The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will ask 44 mayors from different areas in the Philippines to explain the reason behind the slow distribution of cash aid to their constituents.
In today’s Laging Handa (“Always Ready”) virtual presser, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that the order came from his boss, Secretary Eduardo Año. Malaya’s announcement comes after countless unemployed Filipinos have complained that they have not received their dole-outs, called the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), from their local government units (LGU).
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“Secretary Eduardo Año will issue a show-cause order against 44 mayors from all over the country in connection to the slow distribution of the Social Amelioration Program,” he said in English and Filipino to Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who hosted the briefing.
“We know Sec [Andanar] that not more than 2% of our countrymen were unable to receive the Social Amelioration Program. This is saddening because a vast majority of our people have already received it, but there are still a few [who didn’t get it] because of their slow LGUs. Those LGUs which did not meet the May 10 deadline of distribution of the SAP will be asked to explain. The DILG wants to know, as well as their constituents, what their reasons are for delaying the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program,” Malaya added.
Many Filipinos all over the country have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing them to rely on the government for help. Desperate residents would often wait for hours just to get their SAP, and critics have said that social distancing rules have been disregarded in such instances.
In some cases, even the elderly would line up underneath the scorching hot summer sun to ask for help, putting their health at risk. In one case, an 84-year-old man from Bacolod City died of cardiac arrest early this month while applying for a SAP.
