THE lack of sufficient computers and a reliable internet connection at the Cebu City Persons-with-Disability (PWD) office not only hinders the office from providing efficient service but has also exacerbated the alleged selling of PWD IDs to able-bodied individuals, a local official said on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, in an interview over SunStar Cebu’s online commentary program “Beyond the Headlines” on Friday, said the PWD office, expected to provide frontline service, only has one functioning computer.
Cuenco also wanted the City’s PWD office, located in Barangay Labangon, to be transferred inside the city hall for accessibility.
The councilor said he discovered the internet connection problem in the office during his visit on Monday, June 3.
“We found out that mao lagi ang ilang issue is daghang documentation nga gikinahanglan, but there is only one computer unit nga gamiton para sa printing and then kuan pa g’yud naglisod sila’g internet connection nga mo connect unta sa MICS, duna man gu’y integration sa system,” Cuenco told SunStar Cebu. MICS stands for Cebu City’s Management Information and Computer Services.
(We found out that their issue is that they require a lot of documentation, but there is only one computer available for printing. Additionally, they are struggling with an internet connection that is supposed to connect to the MICS, as there is supposed to be system integration.)
Cuenco revealed that employees had to personally contribute money for a WiFi connection.
When asked if the PWD office had reached out to the city hall officials for the problem, the councilor was unsure, but he said the required equipment for the office should be a priority.
“Daghan kay tag luho nga gipamalit, byahe nga unnecessary, kaning frontline service, dapat kaning DSWS naa ni ang opisina sa city hall aron accessible... Daghan g’yud unta kaayong bakante kung pahawaon nato ang mga useless nga opisina. Ibalhin nato,” he said.
(We have bought a lot of unnecessary luxuries and made unnecessary trips. This frontline service, the DSWS office, should be located in city hall to be accessible... There would be plenty of available space if we removed the useless offices. Let’s move it.)
‘PWD ID sale anomaly’
Meanwhile, Cuenco said the city council has called on the Cebu City Legal Office and the acting administrator, lawyer Kristine Joyce Batucan, to conduct an interrogation, saying the council cannot do so due to jurisdictional limits.
The City Council is now in the middle of unfolding an alleged “syndicate” that is behind the recently discovered sale of PWD ID to able-bodied individuals at a range of P2,000 to P4,000.
Cuenco called for a probe on the matter after he was able to talk to an able-bodied individual who obtained a PWD card.
The city council held an executive session on the matter and invited some individuals who were allegedly involved in the PWD ID ‘scam.
Cuenco, however, said he was not satisfied with the session’s outcome.
“When we summoned them, those who would have led us to the mastermind, during the executive session, we only had limited ability to extract information from them because, in the first place, we do not have a contempt power... naturally, they denied, although you can see in their body language that they are really close friends,” Cuenco said in English and Cebuano.
Cuenco earlier said that the able-bodied person who was able to buy a PWD ID informed them that as early as last August, certain individuals connected with the Office of the Mayor were involved in the scheme.
“Dunay facilitator nila, ang kaning uban mga kuan lang, kaning maoy tig dunol sa mga patrons sa mga IDs nga gikinahanglan,” he said.
(They have a facilitator, while the others just handle the distribution of the required IDs to the patrons.)
Corrective measures
The City Government is now working on cleansing its list of PWD beneficiaries, as it is scheduled to release the P3,000 quarterly cash assistance this month.
The City Government is also in the process of upgrading the PWD ID to include more stringent security features.
As an offshoot to the issue, the city’s MICS has requested a budget of P50 million for the integration of the city’s data: PWD, senior citizens, transactions with the Office of the Building Official, tax payments and other services of the City Hall.
Cuenco said the city can allocate the P50 million funding request, as other non-urgent projects can be addressed later. / WBS, Melecio Paloma Cando, Benedicto College-Intern