BY AARON RECUENCO
*
MORE than 400 local government officials, mostly on the barangay level, and private individuals are now the subject of investigation of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group over complaints of anomalies in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program of the national government.
CIDG director Police Major Gen. Joel Napoleon Coronel said the 405 barangay officials and private individuals are categorized as probable suspects in the SAP cash aid distribution anomalies.
“We are now handling 169 cases based on the complaints of 307 people. We continue to monitor and conduct investigation on all the other cases,” said Coronel.
Coronel said of the 169 cases, 87 are still under investigation, while nine cases are readied for filing.
On the other hand, 74 have been filed in courts, and one case has been sent to the Department of the Interior and Local Government for appropriate administrative action.
The cases filed were in connection with the Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) in relation to RA 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act).
Coronel said those charged were accused of involvement in the SAP distribution anomalies either by manipulating the list of beneficiaries, including their relatives and unqualified recipients as beneficiaries.
The anomalies also include collecting and dividing the cash aid received by the complainants for purposes of “sharing it” to other families.
