Starpay On Senator Pacquiao’s “Ayuda” Corruption Claim

Starpay on Senator Pacquiao’s claim of “ayuda” corruption claim

On Monday, Philippine fintech company Starpay disputed the “ayuda” corruption claim made by Senator Manny Pacquiao.

Starpay Corp. was the company behind an e-wallet service used to distribute pandemic financial aid.

Earlier, Senator Pacquiao said Starpay, which was tapped by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), failed to fully distribute the aid under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

Senator Pacquiao also said that PHP 10.4 billion was missing even though it was noted that all of the payouts had been completed.

According to Senator Pacquiao, PHP 50 billion of the PHP 206 billion allocated for the Social Amelioration Program was routed to Starpay, which he tagged as a “lesser known” e-wallet service with a paid-up capital of only PHP 62,000.

In response to Senator Pacquiao’s claim, Starpay said that more than five million beneficiaries had been given cash assistance through its platform “in a very short period of time”.

Starpay also said that it had already liquidated the funds it received and also refunded the amount for unserved beneficiaries to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, totaling to PHP 8.239 billion.

READ ALSO: Palace Hits Senator Pacquiao’s Absence In Senate Inquiry On COVID-19 Pandemic Response

According to Starpay, it started dealing with DSWD last June 2020 and was initially awarded coverage of about 1.6 million beneficiaries, but it went “above and beyond” the original allocation set by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“With our large partner network, we were able to expand and assist several million more beneficiaries to receive their much-needed amelioration. This was achieved because of our unique online and offline distribution model, where beneficiaries without smartphones were given reference numbers to claim their amelioration at their own time and convenience,” Starpay said in a statement.

Moreover, Starpay said that as a licensed electronic money issuer supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, it was required to have a capital of PHP 100 million before getting a license, denying Senator Pacquiao’s claim that Starpay’s capital was only PHP 62,000.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development earlier said that it was willing to face any probe on the disbursement of subsidies under the Social Amelioration Program.

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