CEBU CITY – Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman has ordered the filing of charges against those involved in anomalies in the implementation of the so-called Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) program.
She said they will file appropriate criminal and administrative charges against those who would be found guilty following television reports that some people have exploited the beneficiaries of ESA. Many beneficiaries have reportedly turned to loans from unscrupulous money lenders.
Reports said some of these cases occurred in Estancia town in Iloilo where ESA beneficiaries had been duped by loan sharks that charged as much as 16% interest. The Department of Social Welfare and Development has begun the investigation.
ESA is provided to qualified families affected by Typhoon Yolanda, with P10,000 for partially damaged houses and P30,000 for those with totally damaged houses. It is released by the DSWD through the local government units as part of the rehabilitation efforts to help Yolanda survivors rebuild their homes.
“I am disappointed. I cannot accept how they can afford to take advantage of the helpless beneficiaries. We already assigned some personnel to investigate and gather the necessary evidence,” Soliman said.
There were also reports that some of the ESA beneficiaries were not even qualified in the program, but have managed to get the aid. Soliman said she ordered a re-validation of the ESA beneficiaries, especially those who are not included in the masterlist.
“We were told that there are families who left their place after the typhoon, but have returned upon learning of the government’s housing assistance,” Soliman said. “We are now looking into that.”
She said they would take back any cash assistance given to those who were not included in the ESA program. But Soliman did not how they would do this, but she sought the assistance of the local government units to help them identify who should be in the ESA program.
Soliman said there are two auditing levels for the ESA program – the DSWD-initiated audit done through spot checking of ESA distribution and the auditing done by the Commission on Audit. Soliman has cited the media as their partner in monitoring the implementation of government programs and urged journalists to immediately report any irregularities that they know of. (Juju M. Empuerto)
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