SIX village chiefs in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental are suspended for six months by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) following the filing of complaints by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for anomalies and irregularities involving the implementation of the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
The six were among the 89 Village chiefs that were suspended.
Based on the order those from Bacolod City are Evelyn Ta-asan of Barangay 11, Noli Villarosa of Barangay Tangub and Kim Piramo of Barangay 19 in Bacolod City.
Joy Maredith Madayag, director of DILG-Bacolod, said she has yet to receive a copy of the alleged suspensions.
“I only read it in the press release of the DILG Central office that the Office of the Ombudsman has suspended 89 village chiefs from various regions over the anomalies in the distribution of SAP and of the number, three are from Bacolod City,” she said.
For his part, Villarosa said he has yet to receive a copy of the order and he will wait for it.
“Let’s wait for the order. For now, I’m still doing my job but, as soon as it will be implemented, I will follow it. It’s not a big deal for me,” he said.
He added that he did nothing wrong in the distribution of SAP in his barangay.
Piramo also said he was surprised when he learned that his name was included on the list.
“Hopefully, there’s a due process. We did nothing wrong in the distribution of SAP. We have 250 recipients of SAP and only five of them filed a complaint, it’s all about politics,” he said.
Ta-asan could be reached for a comment as of press time.
In Negros Occidental those who were included in the suspension order include Tezardo Tejada of Barangay To-oy, Himamaylan City Romeo Sultan of Barangay Salamanca Toboso and Ruel Sabequil of Barangay Cabungahan, Calatrava in Negros Occidental were also among those suspended.
In an order dated September 2, 2020, the Office of the Ombudsman said that “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.”
Madayag said that from the Central Office, the order will be forwarded to the regional office then, it will be forwarded to the local government unit.
“So we will wait for the official copy of the order and we will implement it,” she said.
She added the mayor can also serve the directive because they are the immediate superior of the barangay captains.
Once the barangay captain vacated its post, Madayag said the number one barangay kagawad will take over the post as acting barangay captain.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año directed the respective mayors of these punong barangays "to immediately implement the order of the Office of the Ombudsman upon receipt while the DILG Regional and field officers were directed to ensure the orderly implementation of the said mass suspension. "
DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the suspension of the 89 Punong Barangays, the first such mass suspension in the history of the country, is just the latest in a series of moves undertaken by the DILG to weed out corrupt officials in the implementation of the SAP.
Malaya said that acting on the orders of the DILG, the PNP- CIDG has already filed criminal cases against 447 individuals for violations of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), RA 11469 (Bayanihan Act I), and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct of Government Officials and Employees), among others, again in relation to the implementation of the Social Amelioration.
Of the 447 suspects, 211 are elected local and barangay officials, 104 are appointed barangay officials and 132 are their civilian co-conspirators. The cases are now being handled by the different City and Provincial Prosecutors across the country who have started the filing of the necessary information against the suspects in the courts.