MANILA – Eight barangay captains in Western Visayas under investigation for alleged anomalies in the distribution of the emergency cash assistance from the national government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) were suspended for six months, according to President Rodrigo Duterte in a late Monday night televised address to the nation.
The Office of the Ombudsman, which is conducting the probe, issued the preventive suspension orders.
The eight Region 6 barangay captains were the following:
* Tezardo Tejada of Barangay To-oy, Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental
* Jim Piramo of Barangay 19, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
* Rezel Montero of Barangay San Vicente, Culasi, Antique
* Romeo Sultan of Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental
* Ruel Sabequil of Barangay Cabungahan, Calatrava, Negros Occidental
* Tito Dipon Barnuevo of Barangay Linao, Panay, Capiz
* Evelyn Ta-asan of Barangay 11, Bacolod City
* Noli Villarosa of Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City
According to Duterte, a total of 89 village chiefs in the country were suspended pending the investigation.
Irregularities in the SAP, he said, led to some listed beneficiaries not getting their share of the government cash aid for poor families affected by quarantine measures imposed to help contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
For his part, Ombudsman Samuel Martirez said, “The evidence on record shows that the guilt of these punong barangays is strong and the charges against them involve Serious Dishonesty, Grave Misconduct, Abuse of Authority and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service which may warrant removal from the service.”
The Ombudsman maintained that the continued stay of these punong barangays in office may prejudice the investigation, “[so] placing them under preventive suspension for a period of six months pursuant to Republic Act No. 6770 is proper.”
The SAP cash emergency subsidy program was mandated by the new law, Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, signed by President Duterte on March 25, 2020.
The program was headed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in cooperation with the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, and Department of Interior and Local Government.
Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2020 signed by the implementing departments states that each qualified family can receive between P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months for basic food, medicine, and toiletries.
The amount varies, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage rates and takes into account the other subsidy programs in cash or in-kind, under the DSWD.
In Western Visayas, the subsidy is P6,000 for each beneficiary (per family or household basis).
The government stressed that SAP’s priority are families who need cash assistance the most, particularly those belonging in the informal sector whose livelihood has been most affected by the quarantine./PN
