Pacquiao questions DSWD's P10.4B SAP fund disbursement to Starpay

Updated Tue, July 6, 2021 at 2:12 PM Published Sat, July 3, 2021 at 5:40 PM

Senator Manny Pacquiao alleged corruption within the DSWD concerning the disbursement of P10.4 billion in Social Amelioration Program (SAP) funds.

He questioned the DSWD's selection of e-wallet app Starpay for disbursing SAP funds, noting that P10.4 billion of the initial P14 billion released to the company did not reach its intended beneficiaries.

StarPay Corporation rejected Pacquiao's claims, stating that more than 5 million beneficiaries received cash aid through its platform and that it has already liquidated the funds given to them, refunding P8.2 billion to the DSWD for unserved beneficiaries.

The company clarified that Pacquiao's claim about their capitalization being PHP62,000 is incorrect and stated that their figures are verifiable with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista explained that beneficiaries also received aid through conduits affiliated with StarPay, such as MLhuillier and USSC, because some beneficiaries do not own smartphones, have data quality issues, or connectivity concerns.

The DSWD has requested to see the data that serves as Senator Pacquiao's basis for his claim of 1.3 million unserved beneficiaries.

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