Beneficiaries of deceased barangay officials can count on a more timely settlement of death and burial claims now that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has made the processing online.
DILG OIC-Secretary Eduardo M. Año issued revised rules and regulations to facilitate an interactive online processing of death benefits through the Barangay Information System (BIS), a system that gathers, stores, maintains data on barangays accessible at www.intranet.dilg.gov.ph.
A list of deceased barangay officials, which is a basic requirement of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for fund allocation, is generated from the system.
“The DILG is conscientious in doing its role in providing the benefits authorized by law to the beneficiaries of deceased barangay officials who served their communities faithfully,” he assured.
For the past 16 years, he said, the application for barangay death benefits was processed manually from the DILG Field Offices, to the DILG Regional Offices, then to DILG Central Office and finally to the DBM for fund allocation.
“Barangay officials are the catalysts of change and guardians of peace and order at the community level. In recognition of their rendered contribution and service in barangay governance, the DILG is ensuring efficient processing and release of barangay death benefits to their beneficiaries,” said Año.
Pursuant to Executive Order (EO) No. 115, barangay officials who died during their term of office are covered by death benefit claims nationwide.
Beneficiaries of a deceased punong barangay can receive P20,000 for death benefit and P2,000 for burial expenses.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries of a deceased member of a sangguniang barangay, including its Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairpersons as ex-officio members, barangay secretary and barangay treasurer, can receive P10,000 death benefit and P2,000 for burial expenses.
Faster and easier processing
With the new BIS, all claims for death benefits are processed and settled online by DILG after receiving request or application by beneficiaries at DILG field offices.
The DILG Regional and Field Offices and DILG Central Office-Financial Management Service (FMS) and National Barangay Operations Office (NBOO) have a designated Focal Division (FD) and Focal Persons (FPs).
The FD and FPs monitor daily the transit of the application for claims in the online BIS and immediately process it within the day.
The DILG Chief ordered that the transfer of funds to concerned office shall not exceed two working days upon receipt of the notice of allotment to facilitate the immediate release of the payment of checks.
The check in payment for the claims is then to be turned-over to the eligible beneficiaries by the DILG field officer not exceeding seven working days upon receipt of the fund allocation.
Applications for death benefit claims and the corresponding supporting documents are retained at the DILG Provincial Office or Field Office to serve as reference in the issuance of checks to claimants.
However, the DILG Chief clarified that no benefits shall be granted to a deceased barangay official whose cause of death is either suicide, or unlawful acts resulting to death.
P34.17-M released in 2017
Año disclosed that total of P34.17-million of barangay death benefits has been released by the DILG to the beneficiaries of 2,482 deceased barangay officials in 2017.
He said that the amount is about 10 percent higher than the P30.92-million released in 2016 to the beneficiaries of 2,232 deceased barangay officials.
Based on the records of the DILG NBOO, of the 2,482 deceased barangay officials last year, 439 of them were punong barangays, 1,735 were sangguniang barangay members, 164 were barangay secretaries, and 144 were barangay treasurers.
Since 2001, barangay officials are not receiving any insurance benefits from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) due to the suspension of the payments of claims for Barangay Officials Insurance Fund embodied in Resolution No. 332 of the GSIS Board of Trustees in November 2001.
As a stop gap measure and in the overall effort of government to provide assistance to the barangay officials, EO 115 was issued in August 2002 which authorized the DILG to determine the amount and administer the payment of death benefits of barangay officials chargeable against the fund appropriated in the General Appropriations Act for the purpose.
