CEBU CITY, Philippines — Out of 47 complaints that the Department of Interior and Local Government in Central Visayas (DILG-7) has received in relation to “irregularities” in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in Central Visayas, only two barangay officials in the region are facing complaints before the court yet.
The village officials in hot waters include one from Negros Oriental and one from Bohol.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, DILG-7 Regional Director Leocadio Trovela said the cases against the village officials were filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-7).
While the cases are already in court, Trovela said he is not at liberty in divulging the identity of the officials or the specific barangays where they serve since it was the CIDG-7 who filed the complaint.
Since the establishment of the DILG’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Legal Team last May 9, Trovela said they received a total of 47 complaints about SAP distribution anomalies. This includes six from Bohol, nine from Cebu, three from Negros Oriental, one from Siquijor, and 28 from Cebu City.
The DILG referred at least eight of these complaints to CIDG-7, of which are from Cebu province, one is from Cebu City, one is from Negros Oriental, and three from Bohol.
The DILG also referred to the Department of Social Welfare and Development at 12 of these complaints for verification.
Trovela clarified that those complaints that were forwarded to DSWD are not concerns of corruption on the SAP funds but complaints from families that were left out from the SAP allocation.
READ: DILG-7: Cases of brgy officials linked to SAP irregularities sent to Manila
Earlier, the DILG regional office also said they have referred 12 other complaints to the office of the DILG Secretary for determining if the complaints were valid. If so, the complaints will be later submitted to the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for further action.
Among those forwarded to the DILG Secretary are three complaints from Cebu province, one from Bohol, two from Negros Oriental, five from Cebu City, and one from Siquijor. /bmjo