DAVAO CITY — A beneficiary of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), was indicted in Island Garden City of Samal Prosecution Office on Monday, June 2, for betting into a cockfight.
IGACOS Prosecutor Joseph Apao in an interview with Newsline revealed there were more 4P’s beneficiaries who joined the illegal cockfight or”Tari-Tari” but only one was caught during the raid.
“I resolved a case for illegal cockfighting wherein one of the respondents is a 4Ps beneficiary. It is quite infuriating and disheartening to know that the tax I pay is spent for the vice of such person,” Apao on his Facebook page stated.
Reports claimed many bettors were 4P’s beneficiaries but were able to run during the raid.
The suspect will be charged for violation of Sec. 1 (a) (1) of PD 1602 or illegal gambling.
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, also known as 4Ps and formerly Bangon Pamilyang Pilipino, is a conditional cash transfer program of the Philippine government under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
When the world was hit by Coronavirus pandemic, the government through the Welfare Department provided the 4P’s beneficiaries with the additional fund through the social amelioration program amounting to P6,000, to feed their families while the plague is still not cured, but many spent the money in illegal gambling, as police records in different parts of the countries show.
Instead of buying food for their families, they used the money to find more fortune during the crisis.