SIX beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s social amelioration program (SAP) were arrested by local authorities in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga for violating enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) regulations.
The suspects, who all received P6,500 cash subsidy under the said program, were caught in the act of gambling and drinking alcohol beverages which are both prohibited during ECQ.
According to the report of this city’s chief of police Lieutenant Colonel Paul Gamido, the first three suspects were collared on April 27 in Northville, Calulut while in the act of playing card game “tong-its.”
The trio violated Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and Presidential Decree 1602 which penalizes illegal gambling, Gamido said.
Meanwhile, three more SAP beneficiaries were arrested by city police and “Patrolya ng Bayan” on Thursday, April 30, while having a drinking session in Barangay Del Carmen.
The said activity is a defiance ot Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern act, Article 151 ng Revised Penal Code, and the local liquor ban order.
The suspects are under the custody of local police and are set to be charged before the proper court.
The San Fernando City Government meanwhile, told SAP recipients to use the cash grants to intended purposes such as in purchasing goods and other necessary items.
The SAP’s emergency subsidy program is given to indigent families, and those who were severely affected by the ECQ to assist them during this health crisis.