Department of Social Welfare (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian assures that no “ghost beneficiaries” will receive cash relief assistance for tricycle drivers in Metro Manila.

To ensure that the assistance will reach only the legitimate recipients, tricycle drivers are required to appear physically at the payout sites.

“Now, yung sinasabi niyong patay na, made-detect natin yon kasi nga, kaya nga physical yung payout, hindi yung ide-deposit nalang namin sa account,” Sec. Gatchalian said

[“Now, regarding your concern about the deceased [driver/s], we will be able to detect that, that’s why the payout is physical rather than a direct deposit into an account.”]

The DSWD is strictly implementing a rigorous verification process for potential beneficiaries, especially when it comes to the middle initial and birthday.

Batasan Hills TODA President Genlie Pesico noted that the agency makes a separate list for those who have no middle initial or birthday on the list.

“So, pag walang middle initial, walang birthday, hiniwalay po nila. Hindi naman po inalis; hiniwalay lang.” he said

[“So if there is no middle initial, no birthday, they set it aside. They do not remove, they just set it aside.”]

QC Tricycle Regulatory Division Chief Dir. Benjamin Ibon III confirms it, saying, “Binukod ng DSWD kasi kulang yung information, unang-una po yung birthday.”

He also added that the DSWD assures them that once the missing information is provided, they will be scheduled on another day of payout.

“Inassure naman po ng DWSD na i-comply lang po, i-fill up yung birth date na kulang, then schedule po sila sa Thursday,” he said

[“The DSWD has assured us to comply, fill up the birth date, then they will be scheduled on Thursday.”]

These clarifications come in response to concerns raised by several tricycle drivers whose names were missing from the list of beneficiaries.

DSWD Secretary Gatchalian emphasized that any legitimate drivers who are missing from the list may coordinate with their respective Local Government Unit (LGU).

“Kung sakaling hindi niyo matagpuan ang inyong pangalan sa listahan pero lehitimo kayong driver, ang gagawin niyo lang, magpupunta lang tayo sa inyong local government unit at ia-apela natin doon,” he said

[“Just in case you didn’t find your name in the list, but you’re a legitimate driver, the only thing you have to do is to go to your respective Local Government Unit (LGU) and file an appeal.”]

He further clarified that the current list of beneficiaries is not yet final and the submissions remain open.

“Hindi pa ho final yung listahan. Ongoing pa rin ang mga submissions,” he added

League of Cities of the Philippines President and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora mentioned that it is important for the LGUs to make sure that the lists are clean to prevent the exploitation of the unqualified recipients.

“It’s not the question of ‘nandyan ba yung pondo?’, it’s the question of generating an honest-to-goodness clean list dahil ayaw po nating mapasukan ng mga pangalan na hindi naman qualified,” he said

[“It’s not the question of  'is there any fund?',  it’s the question of generating an honest-to-goodness clean list because we don’t want to include the names that are actually not qualified.”]

DSWD Sec. Gatchalian clarified that drivers and driver-operators are only eligible for cash assistance.

With reports from Benedict Samson

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