THOSE who gave information on government officials involved in anomalies in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) are each entitled to a cash reward of P30,000.
President Rodrigo Duterte promised to give the reward money last May at the height of complaints that the SAP was not reaching its intended beneficiaries. More than the P30,000 reward, however, those informants must have taken pleasure in catching these corrupt officials and reporting them to authorities so they could be arrested, charged and suspended from office.
That was what happened. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced Saturday that 89 barangay captains nationwide have been suspended following the filing of complaints against them for SAP irregularities. The SAP is a cash subsidy program launched by National Government for low-income families after the country was placed under lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Each SAP beneficiary was entitled to receive from P5,000 to P8,000 cash subsidy in two tranches.
Reports quoted DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya as describing the suspension of the 89 officials as “the first such mass suspension in the history of the country.”
Among the 89 are five in Cebu, namely, Patricio Soco of Barangay Alang-Alang, Mandaue City; Ulysses Raganas of Barangay Linao, Talisay City; Zosima Rojo of Barangay Upper, Natimao-an, Carmen; Norman Navarro of Barangay Basak-San Nicolas, Cebu City; and Ignacio Cortes II of Barangay Centro, Mandaue City. They have yet to respond to the complaint.
The DILG action came after President Duterte offered last May a P30,000 cash reward to any person who can give information that will lead to the arrest of local officials involved in the corruption of funds intended for SAP recipients.
The first controversial case involved a barangay councilor of Hagonoy, Bulacan, who was caught on video telling SAP beneficiaries they would only get P3,000 of the cash aid as the remaining P3,500 would be given to the town mayor for distribution to non-SAP beneficiaries.
Other complaints were on government officials pocketing or misusing the cash funds and maliciously including those not eligible in the list of beneficiaries.
Those who answered the President’s call for the public to report SAP anomalies did the right thing. The P30,000 cash reward may have encouraged them as the money would ease their financial burden but they must have considered the possibility of backlash from their barangay leaders.
Yet, they turned informant on their local officials. What they did was an example of the good that can come out of this pandemic and on how citizens can take action when they see an anomaly, abuse of power by those given the mandate to lead and serve.
Let’s have more of the exercise of this power by citizens who are vigilant and courageous to hold those in public office to account for their actions. By reporting on the SAP anomalies, they have become guardians against abuse of power, inefficiency and corrupt practices.