Labella: ‘Only city hall employees can distribute financial aid’
A total of 77,000 senior citizens received P3, 000 financial assistance each from the Cebu City Government on Saturday, September 21, 2019. CDND PHOTO / Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — City hall employees or department heads are the only ones authorized to distribute the financial assistance to the the constituents of each barangay, according to Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella.
This is in response to the complaints of some barangay chiefs that the distribution of the senior citizen financial aid was affected by the lack of coordination between the Cebu City Hall and the barangays.
In Barangay Inayawan, village chief Kirk Bryan Repollo said there has been a confusion on the venue of the distribution of the financial assistance today, September 21, as the point persons designated by the City Hall said it will be distributed at the Inayawan Elementary School.
The issue was resolved yesterday, September 20, when the city finally coordinated with the barangay and agreed to hold the distribution at the Inayawan Sports Complex.
Labella said he designated department heads per barangay to lead the distribution because of the huge amount of money involved.
In Barangay Inayawan alone, Repollo says there are 2,088 senior citizens who received P3, 000 worth of financial assistance for the July to August 2019 period.
The number includes the 2,028 senior citizens who went to the sports complex for financial aid distribution.
The other 60 are considered “bed-ridden” senior citizens who cannot claim their financial aid in the sports complex.
This means that more than P6. 2 million was spent for senior citizens’ financial aid for Barangay Inayawan.
READ: Village chief says cash assistance for seniors should be govt-to-govt transaction
The mayor said to ensure accountability in handling the funds, the money has to be taken care of by city hall employees so it can be audited immediately.
During the administration of former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña, the barangay mayor’s office (BMO) was tasked to distribute the financial assistance.
Labella abolished the BMO when he sat as mayor because he said it caused confusion within the barangays.
Instead, Labella established barangay liaisons who will coordinate with the villages for smooth relay of services.
“The problem has been resolved. The distribution of financial aid all over the city is smooth flowing. There is no problem and there is (a system of) accountability,” he said in a phone interview with CDN Digital.
Labella said he went around barangays, whether the village chief was his ally or not, because he believes in an inclusive type of government.
He also assured the barangays that there will be better coordination next time to avoid confusion during distribution of financial assistance. / celr
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