Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12) — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to tap the military in distributing the government’s cash aid to households badly hit by the Luzon-wide lockdown brought on by the pandemic.
In his televised address aired on Tuesday, Duterte bared that he instructed Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista to let soldiers help in the rollout of the cash subsidy, citing corruption and lack of manpower which delayed the distribution.
“I had a nightmare in the distribution of the COVID-19 cash aid,” Duterte said. “Takot ako na makurakot ito…Nangyari nga (I was scared that this would be misused. It really happened).”
“Alam ko walang tao,” the President added. “Ang order ko sa kanya, he will request na kapwa niya sundalo noon, magpatulong siya sa Armed Forces sa pagdistribute ng pera.”
[Translation: I know that we lack people. I ordered him to request his fellow soldiers and let the Armed Forces help him in distributing the subsidy.]
Duterte appointed Bautista, a retired army general, as the new social welfare secretary in 2018.
Duterte also noted that female soldiers may be commissioned to take part in the aid distribution, saying that women can show “empathy” to people.
“Yung puso ng babae ang gusto ko,” he said. “Sa mga babae na miyembro [of the AFP], maybe you will be commissioned to do that.”
[Translation: A woman’s heart is what I want. To the female members of the AFP, maybe you will be commissioned to do that.]
The DSWD said that over 16.3 million households have so far received cash assistance.
At least 369 local government units — or around 22 percent of all cities and municipalities — failed to meet the deadline to finish the distribution of the first tranche of the national government’s cash aid program, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) told CNN Philippines on Monday.
The DSWD also reported that 183 barangay officials are under investigation for alleged corruption in distributing cash aid.
The DILG earlier extended the SAP pay-out nationwide until May 10, as the national government initially targeted April 30 for the completion of the distribution. The DSWD is still awaiting the directive of Malacañang on the second tranche of SAP subsidies.
Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the national government has allotted ₱200-billion-worth of aid for those most affected by the pandemic. Subsidy ranges from ₱5,000 to ₱8,000 per household per tranche, depending on the minimum wage level in a region. The first tranche was originally scheduled in April and the second one in May.
