News Roundup 20 August 2022
Aug 20, 2022 • 5 min Read
Lagman recalls Plaza Miranda bombing, Aquino assassination ahead of Ninoy Aquino Day | INQUIRER.NET – Albay Representative Edcel C. Lagman recalled on Saturday the violence of the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing and the 1983 assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., both taking place on August 21, and 12 years apart. The Plaza Miranda bombing killed nine people and injured 60 others. “The Filipino nation was horrified, even as the world was shocked, by the viciousness of the Plaza Miranda bombing during the proclamation rally of the senatorial candidates of the Liberal Party and its local aspirants in the City of Manila,” Lagman said nearly 51 years ago. He also recalled Aquino’s assassination, saying that the “assassination of Ninoy ultimately led to the people’s liberation as they ousted the dictator in the peaceful Edsa people power revolution.” “Challenges of the Plaza Miranda bombing and the killing of Ninoy Aquino continue to confront us today,” he said.
Tulfo says sorry for chaotic DSWD ‘ayuda’ distribution | INQUIRER.NET – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo on Saturday apologized for the chaos that marked the first day of the agency’s distribution of cash aid for indigent students. The first day of the cash aid distribution saw huge crowds flocking to the DSWD central and regional offices. A stampede was also reported in Zamboanga. Tulfo blamed miscommunication for the distribution mess. “I am sorry. I apologize po kung kayo ay hindi nabigyan ng cash ayuda,” Tulfo said in a press briefing. (I am sorry. I apologize if you did not receive your cash aid.) “I hope you understand po kasi binuksan natin ito sa mahihirap (because we open it for the poor people). I hope you would understand and give DSWD a chance … We are working very hard para po sa inyo, para po pantay-pantay (for you, to make distribution evenly),” he added. Tulfo said the DSWD was made to be in-charge of the aid distribution so as not to repeat the alleged selective distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) at the barangay level. “Dati po kasi ayoko pong mangyari yung nangyari sa SAP na pinipili lang sabi ho ninyo. Reporter po ako noon na nakarating sa amin na pinipili, ayoko pong mamili,” the former journalist explained. (I wouldn’t want what happened during the SAP distribution when you said recipients were selected. I was a reporter back then and I’ve heard that they were selecting beneficiaries.I don’t want that to happen.) “Kaya ginawa ko po, DSWD na po ang kaharap ninyo. So here we are, may pila ho tayo, ang hinihingi ko lamang po ay konting pag-unawa ho at pasensya,” he added. (That’s why I made DSWD the one in-charge. So here we are, we have queues, and all I ask is understanding and patience.) The DSWD’s National Capital Region office has temporarily suspended distribution of the cash aid. The DSWD on Friday announced that it will be distributing P500 million in cash assistance to indigent students. Tulfo said the assistance will be P1,000 for elementary students, P2,000 for junior high school students, P3,000 for senior high school students, and P4,000 for college students or those taking vocational courses. Up to three students per family can get the cash assistance, according to Tulfo.
COA flags Comelec over P671 million unliquidated cash advances | PHILSTAR.COM – The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over P671.473 million in unliquidated cash advances of its special disbursing officers, officials and employees. In its 2021 annual audit report on the Comelec, the COA said the poll body kept on granting additional cash advances to its special disbursing officers, officials and employees despite non-liquidation or settlement of their previous advances, in violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines. The COA said this resulted in the accumulation of unliquidated cash advances, which stood at P671.473 million as of Nov. 30, 2021. The COA’s breakdown showed that there were 2,895 accountable officers of the poll body who have yet to liquidate cash advances, of whom 2,571 were special disbursing officers with a total unliquidated balance of P492.778 million and 324 were officials and employees with total unliquidated balance of P178,696 million. The COA said the audit team’s review of the Comelec’s accounts revealed that 496 out of 2,895 accountable officers were granted additional cash advances totaling P90.5 million “despite non-liquidation or non-settlement of the previous cash advances given to them.” The COA reminded the Comelec that under Section 89 of PD 1445, “a cash advance shall be reported on and liquidated as soon as the purpose for which it was given has been served.” The audit body added that Section 89 of PD 1445 as well as COA Circular No. 97-002 both state that no additional cash advance shall be granted to any official or employee unless his or her previous cash advance has been settled or accounted for. In the same audit report, the COA also reminded the Comelec to remit to the National Treasury a total of P310.789 million in service fee collections. The COA said the unremitted amount included fees from voters certification, authentication and replacement of voters ID and certification of true copy of voters registration record, among others. The COA noted that the poll body erroneously credited the collections to its Trust Fund instead of remitting the amount to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr), in violation of the PD 1445. In a reply, the Comelec said that its Accounting Division will determine the amount to be remitted to the BTr after reviewing and verifying the unremitted balance of collections to date. Meanwhile, the COA also called out the Comelec over its failure to return a total of P208.176 million it received from various local government units (LGUs) for the conduct of plebiscites “notwithstanding completion of the projects.” “The related plebiscites corresponding to these fund transfers were already conducted; however, unused balances thereof were not returned to the concerned LGUs, contrary to the above cited regulation,” the COA said. The COA said that of the total unused balance, 55 percent or P115.314 million pertained to fund transfers received in 2020 and prior years and 45 percent or P92.863 million pertained to the balance from the Palawan plebiscite conducted on March 13, 2021.
