The Manila Times
SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian claimed that about P2.7 billion could have been misallocated under the guise of financial subsidy for the motorcycle taxi riders. Gatchalian made the allegation during a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation chaired by Quezon City Rep. Franz Pumaren earlier this week. He cited inconsistencies, which he called the presence of “ghost riders” on the beneficiary list. Lawmakers have pressed both the concerned government agencies and transport network companies (TNCs) to comment on the matter. Gatchalian stressed that the absence of a verified beneficiary list prior to payout was unusual. In the previous payouts, the dataset was sourced from external entities, including the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, and TNCs. Gatchalian called for a return to enforced manual verification that requires beneficiaries to appear in person and present valid identification before disbursement. To date, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said that about 20 percent of listed beneficiaries have yet to claim their aid, fueling suspicions that some entries may not correspond to real individuals. Motorcycle rights advocate Jobert Bolaños, in an interview with the members of the Quezon City Press Club on Wednesday, challenged the explanation of mere data discrepancies, telling lawmakers that the scale points to deliberate over-declaration. Bolaños cited one platform that allegedly submitted over 200,000 rider entries despite having a declared cap of only around 15,000 — suggesting the presence of “ghost riders.” He warned that if each questionable entry received P5,000, the potential exposure could reach P1 billion. Even after data cleaning, the number of listed riders still far exceeds platform limits, indicating systemic flaws in data submission and oversight, he pointed out. Pumaren called for a deeper probe to determine accountability.
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