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Manila’s ‘ghost pensioners’: Barangay officials collect cash benefits for dead residents
The City of Manila office for senior citizen affairs confirmed the fraud scheme. Some (officials) have been allegedly claiming cash aid for residents who died as early as 2021 or 2022
- PUBLISHED: Mon 17 Aug 2026, 6:00 AM
Government corruption in the Philippines appears to have reached a new low, with purportedly dead people being listed as beneficiaries of cash allowances intended for elderly residents who are still alive.
A “ghost pensioner” scheme has been uncovered in a barangay (village) in Manila , where village officials allegedly collected allowances and social pensions in the names of 10 residents who had long been deceased.
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Elderly residents, who receive a paltry P500 (Dh30) monthly benefit from the barangay, noticed that the names of long-dead relatives still appeared on the list. Worse, signatures appeared next to the dead persons’ names, indicating that the amount had been claimed.
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City of Manila Office for Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA) director Beth Rivera confirmed the fraud scheme. “Their relatives, who died as early as 2021 or 2022, appear to still be listed as claiming their cash benefits,” she told reporters.
Among those listed still receiving benefits is Santos Conde. But he had been dead since August 2022. Conde’s brother-in-law, Efren dela Rosa, dead since 2022, also appeared on the list. It was dela Rosa’s sister, after claiming her own benefits, who first noticed the scam.
Dara Conde, Santos’ daughter, said only barangay officials handle documents and implement payouts to beneficiaries. She revealed that their barangay chairperson approached their family to attempt to convince them not to press criminal and administrative charges.
The village official also allegedly offered to give the Conde family the salaries of two involved personnel in exchange for not pressing charges.
“Of course, the chairperson is involved in this illegal scheme. How could she claim ignorance? She begged us to not pursue whatever complaint we are planning,” Dara said.
The Conde family has filed complaints with the Manila police.
Manila OSCA did not name the barangay officials. A GMA Network report, however, showed that the scheme was being implemented in Sta. Ana District’s Barangay 890. An attempt by the GMA Network reporter to get the side of the officials failed. The Department of Interior and Local Government also declined to comment on the issue pending Manila OSCA’s investigation.
Santos’s widow Elsa told reporters they could not believe their barangay chairperson could do such a thing to them. “My siblings and I had long been friends with her. Never in our wildest imaginations could we believe she would do such a thing to our family,” she said.
Elsa added that the use of their loved ones’ names to defraud the government of funds is particularly painful. “Everyone in our barangay knows how poor we are, yet they did this to us,” she said.