AN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM primarily designed to help the poor could have benefitted the wrong people, says the Commission on Audit (COA) in reference to the Ayuda Para sa Kapos Ang Kita Program (AKAP) covering election year 2024.
In its latest audit report, COA flagged “irregularities” in the distribution of some P926 million AKAP funds under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The state auditor particularly cited an “abuse in the system” which effectively allowed inclusion of tens of thousands of unqualified recipients as beneficiaries. COA likewise spotted double payments.
COA specifically flagged a P108.34 million that went to “repeated or overlapping AKAP beneficiaries,” P48.74 million that was disbursed to ineligible recipients including high school and college students, and P768.73 million collected by persons with invalid IDs, defective or incomplete documentation, or dubious employment records.
WEAPONIZING AYUDA
Speaker Martin Romualdez, AKAP Program targets below minimum wage earners and other near-poor Filipinos, or groups who are receiving assistance from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD).
Payouts include rice assistance, medicine and laboratory cost assistance, and food assistance, which are given every three months. Eligible individuals may also avail funeral assistance, and hospital bills assistance, among others.
COA recommended that the DSWD “create a centralized national beneficiary verification platform” that would include real-time syncing, flagging of suspect entries, enable real-time eligibility checks, among others, to “verify the payment status of a beneficiary before releasing assistance to prevent duplicate or erroneous disbursements.”
CROSS BENEFICIARIES
Despite provisions embarking on “strict guidelines” in the process of identifying beneficiaries, the program missed its target — the marginalized sector.
According to COA, there were AKAP recipients whose names were also included as “beneficiaries” in other government assistance programs, even as the state auditor claimed that the people who received AKAP funds were also getting payouts from other government assistance programs.
“Audit of the disbursements of AKAP benefits revealed instances of beneficiaries receiving the same financial assistance within the day from different SDOs (special disbursing officers), due to simultaneous payouts and without the list of validated beneficiaries,” reads part of a Rappler report.
VOTE-RICH REGIONS
In the National Capital Region (NCR), auditors said over 19,501 persons received multiple assistance in three months, totalling over P69.44 million.
In Ilocos Region, auditors said 1,239 persons collected from both AKAP and AICS — an amount totaling over P4.56 million. Another 307 individuals received AKAP food assistance several times, amounting to P1.3 million.
Some 3,565 recipients in Cagayan Valley got cash from both AKAP and AICS, totaling P12.13 million.
Under Central Visayas DSWD, multiple payouts reached over P12.57 million.
In Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region, the amount spent for multiple payouts hit P3.95 million.
COMPROMISED PROGRAM
All told, COA noted that P108.3 million in financial aid “was compromised due to various lapses including duplication of aid, erroneous disbursements, and misidentification of eligible beneficiaries.”
Students — who are not supposed to be recipients of AKAP — were also able to receive payouts, state auditors found.
“The assistance was granted directly to students instead of their parents or guardians, contrary to the program’s intent and guidelines.”
“In cases where parents were identified as beneficiaries, there was no supporting documentation to establish that they were low-income earners or minimum wage workers,” COA noted.
FIRST-TIME VOTERS
In Cagayan Valley, over 10,439 senior high school and college students who have reached the voting age, were paid P32.52 million under AKAP — even if they were not supposed to be recipients.
In the province of Agusan del Sur in CARAGA, 2,559 college students got payouts totalling P7.68 million.
In the Calabarzon region, students from different provinces collected P8.54 million in AKAP funds
SCREENING PROCESS
COA also flagged the DSWD’s shortcomings in screening procedures, leading to over 100,000 individuals getting cash under AKAP despite being unable to present valid IDs or reliable employment records.
“Based on the documented deficiencies, the AKAP financial assistance program by the DSWD exhibited significant lapses in eligibility assessment, documentation, and internal controls.
Across various FOs (field offices), a total of P768,732,995.92 in assistance was disbursed despite issues such as incomplete and unverified supporting documents,” said COA.
The DSWD, through its Program Head for Operation of AKAP, vowed to improve their systems for verification, in coordination with agencies like the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Department of Agriculture, or with local transport organizations.
AUDITORS FLAGGED
In NCR, P245.35 million in cash was released to 81,858 recipients despite invalid IDs, mismatched employment records, undisclosed income and work details, unverified barangay list, and pre-filled up certifications.
Under the DSWD Central Office, P83.74 million in payouts were released to persons with “unverifiable certifications from unidentified federations” and whose declared occupations showed various inconsistencies.
DSWD Calabarzon released P25.32 million even if farmers or fisherfolk could not be found in local lists, or had discrepancies in their signature and listed addresses.
In DSWD Mimaropa, P25.5 million was released despite the same discrepancies in Region 4A.
In Zamboanga Peninsula, some P54.56 million for 18,186 recipients were released despite shortcomings in documentation.
DSWD Western Visayas released P32.32 million to 6,409 beneficiaries again despite the lack of documentation.