MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has found more than 200 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who appeared to have received doles twice from 2016 to 2018. The COA conducted duplicate tests on nine sample payrolls of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and found 209 names that received at least P3.57 million in benefits. ADVERTISEMENTIn its audit report, the COA said duplicate names existed in the payrolls from all regions, mostly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where over P1 million was disbursed to duplicate beneficiaries. Double payment“The existence of double names in the system connotes double payment to beneficiaries, which amount should have been given to other poor families,” the commission said. In its response, the DSWD said it had already looked into the duplicate names and claimed the number of duplicates have been “reduced significantly” compared to previous years.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 28, 2019 21:33 UTC