( CNN ) Lawmakers in the Philippines have called for an inquiry into allegations that public funds were used to `` hide '' homeless families at a resort during the Pope 's recent visit . The Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development ( DSWD ) has confirmed that 340 members of 100 homeless families were removed from Roxas Boulevard , a major Manila thoroughfare , and temporarily relocated to a beach resort about 90 kilometers ( 55 miles ) away for the duration of the Papal visit . The families returned after the Pope 's departure . A resolution before the Philippines House of Representatives has called on the government to summon the head of the DSWD for a probe into whether $ 97,600 spent on the six-day training course at the resort in Nasugbu , Batangas , amounted to a misuse of public funds . Rep. Terry Ridon , one of the lawmakers behind the resolution , said in a statement he was concerned that the families had been rounded up from Roxas Boulevard , which the Papal convoy traveled several times during the Pope 's January 15-19 visit . He said the episode highlighted the `` frivolous manner '' in which the government implemented anti-poverty programs . The training course at the resort had been been funded as part of a program with the objective of `` keeping families off the streets by training them how to live in a house , '' read the resolution , which was also sponsored by Rep. Antonio Tinio and Rep. Isagani Zarate . However , `` after the papal visit , the families who participated in the 'training ' were returned to the streets , '' raising questions about the program 's effectiveness in terms of its `` supposed objective of reducing poverty , '' said the resolution . In an unrelated Senate hearing Tuesday , DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman was asked about the issue , and confirmed that homeless families from the boulevard had been sent to the resort . She said the department had already intended to enroll the families in the training program , and had considered the period of the Pope 's visit would be the ideal time to do so . `` To prepare for Pope Francis ' arrival ... local governments wanted to make sure that Roxas Boulevard was in a secure and safe state , and so were the ( homeless ) people ... with the influx of people in the area , '' she told the hearing . `` So when we reached out to the families on Roxas Boulevard , since we were already planning to register them to the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Program , we thought it could be the right time to hold the orientation from January 15 to 19 . '' The government 's Modified Conditional Cash Transfer ( MCCT ) Program is described on a government website as a `` complete package of assistance to street families ... with access to social services and economic opportunities for the improvement of their living conditions . '' Ridon 's resolution alleged that the resort stay was `` not the first time that DSWD ( had ) made an attempt to cover up the massive inequality in the country . '' It claimed that during the World Economic Forum on East Asia held in Manila in May last year , families were relocated to another resort for similar training . The plight of the poor , particularly street children , was a touchstone during Pope Francis ' visit to the predominantly Catholic country . At a Sunday Mass , the Pope embraced former street children , who asked him why God had allowed them to suffer .
Allegations are made the the Philippines hid homeless families during the Pope 's visit . 100 homeless families from a busy street were relocated to a resort for training . They were returned to Manila after the Pope left .