Regional Director Leticia Diokno of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office Eight is calling the attention of the public to disregard the text scam currently being circulated in the region, blaming Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as the cause of a fire incident in Tanauan Leyte last August 6, 2012.

Diokno said, a process of validation has been conducted to check on the veracity of said issue. She, however, pointed out that the scam completely contradicts the real scenario that occurred that day when the mother-grantee, Jennylyn Moilna, of Brgy. Catmon left her children at home at 9:00 o’clock in the morning of August 6, 2012. She went to Brgy. Bislig, a nearby barangay of Catmon for a pre-signing of documents, in preparation for the Saturday pay-out for her May- June period of 2012 allocation from Pantawid Pamilya.

According to the Municipal Link, the beneficiaries were advised to go home at around 11:00 o’clock in the morning to take their lunch while waiting for the arrival of the staff who was supposed to to bring the documents to be pre-signed. Molina, instead of going home, decided to have her lunch at the fiesta celebration in Palo.

It was revealed that the mother-grantee came back to Brgy. Bislig at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon at a time when all the beneficiaries of the said barangay were done with the pre-signing. It was only then that she found out that her house was burned down, with her youngest child, a baby left inside the house.

Upon investigation, it was learned that the fire took place at the time when Molina was still in Palo. Moreover, Molina stated that her children are usually left alone with her 10 year-old child, when she and her spouse go out for a living.

Diokno reiterated that it is the main responsibility of the parents to look after their children and when no adult would be left at the house to watch over their kids, they themselves are to be blamed for any consequences.