Dispatch from Crame No. 924:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Reaction to the ₱10-billion undistributed SAP

9/28/20

Kamakailan lamang nailantad na sampung bilyong piso ang hindi naipamahagi ng DSWD sa mga beneficiaries ng SAP. Pero magugulat pa ba tayo? Binigo na naman nila ang milyon-milyong mahihirap at nagugutom na Pilipino.

Sa kabila ng aking paulit-ulit na paalala sa ahensyang ito ay muli na naman nitong pinatunayan ang kanilang kabagalan at kawalang-bisa sa taumbayan sa gitna ng pandemya. Isa itong malinaw na paglabag sa mandato ng DSWD sa ilalim ng Bayanihan Law. They have neglected their duty under the law to come to the aid and rescue as many poor Filipino families affected by this pandemic as possible.

While I acknowledge the selfless efforts of the agency's frontliners, I am strongly against the idea of simply giving up and returning the ₱10 Billion to the Treasury. Inutang na pera, inasahan ng taumbayan pero ibabalik lang ulit dahil hindi napamahagi? It is really absurd to bring up this idea during the DSWD's budget hearing in the Senate. Pero kataka-taka pa ba?

Instead of merely pointing fingers at LGUs for the low disbursement of the fund allotted, the DSWD must now propose a concrete plan to utilize these unspent allocations in fulfillment of its mandate to provide the assistance needed by the poorest of the poor in this time of pandemic. The standard response is to provide livelihood opportunities. How will this be provided? Who are the beneficiaries? How will these unutilized funds be spent?

Baka pwede namang food vouchers na maaaring pambili ng mga produkto ng magsasaka sa Kadiwa Centers para naman mas maraming maayudahan. O kaya naman maaaring dinggin na ang iyak ng mga namamalimos na mga jeepney drivers. Pwede rin sigurong palawakin pa ang sakop ng mga benepisyaryo ng SAP upang maisama sa ayuda ang mga Pilipinong namumuti na ang mata sa gutom at hirap. Hindi lang iisa ang solusyon. Maraming puwedeng gawin ang lingkod bayan na may tunay na puso sa pagtulong.

This is what happens when you have a President who only works once a week. The government units are not working together. Mr. Duterte should have ensured that all departments are doing their part in order to help our countrymen in need. Instead, we have the DSWD and the LGUs blaming each other.

Time is of the essence. Each day that this billion-peso fund is undistributed is another day of disservice to our hungry and needy constituents.

May ₱10B na hindi nagamit ang DSWD sa SAP, ang tanong ng bayan, so ano na ang plano?

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 924, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._924)