CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella has ordered an investigation on what happened to 17,000 donated dressed chickens.
This, after opposition City Councilor Joy Augustus Young asked the executive department how the chickens donated by a Thai company were distributed.
Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President and Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong said in a presser on Friday, June 19, 2020, that he already distributed the 20,000 live chickens that were donated to the barangay captains.
Young learned that after the ABC received the 20,000 live chickens, the same Thai company donated 17,000 dressed chickens to the City.
Labella said he heard about the issue, but he said he had no further knowledge about it.
“I will have that investigated,” he said.
Young said he learned that the 17,000 dressed chickens were distributed to the barangays through the Mayor’s Information and Liaison Offices (Milos).
In a privilege speech on May 29, 2020, Young said he received a number of inquiries from residents on how they could avail themselves of the chickens.
“Since last week, I have received several inquiries from some people through texts and Messenger if they will be included and on how they can avail themselves of the chickens. But it seems nobody in City Hall can give me a categorical answer about the donation. To this date, no resolution for the deed of donation which could possibly amount to P1.5 million has been passed with the council. No press release has been made, so on and so forth,” Young said.
“But in my inquiry, I gathered that Milo has been selling dressed chickens in the last few weeks. Are these the same chickens that we are talking about?” Young asked.
According to a Bzzzzz article of SunStar Cebu, Yody Sanchez, Milo head in Barangay Busay, denied they were selling donated chickens.
Sanchez, instead, reposted the ABC’s Facebook post containing its “thank you” note to the donor. He then asked Young to also look into the 20,000 live chickens and their recipients.
“Basin gibaligya pud (Maybe these were also sold),” Sanchez said.
But Young said he only knew of Milos in barangays in the downtown area that were selling dressed chickens.
As for the ABC, Ong said he does not know what the barangay captains did to the live chickens after he turned these over to them.
Ong said there was no condition set on how the barangay captains should allocate the chickens.
“It was their prerogative whether they give it to the barangay frontliners or to the residents,” he said.
Ong said the 80 barangay captains also signed an acknowledgment paper, showing they already received the donation.
Young said he did not question the chicken donation to the ABC because there are documents to prove the turnover, unlike in the 17,000 dressed chickens.
The City Council has asked the Department of Social Welfare and Services and the mayor’s office for a report about the donations.
The council also asked the Office of the City Secretariat to inquire about the donations and ask for the documents, such as delivery receipt and letters, among others.
Ong said the 20,000 live chickens were donated by the CP Food Philippines Corp. last May 13. The chickens distributed to the barangays on May 14 and May 15.
Ong received the donation through an ABC resolution, authorizing him to accept the deed of donation.
The ABC took charge of the trucking, hauling and dressing of the 20,000 chickens, he said.
Ong said the number of dressed chickens distributed to the barangays depended on the barangay’s population, he said.
The chicken entrails were given to the Cebu City Jail, he said. (JJL)