Inayawan village chief laments city’s lack of coordination in rice aid distribution

Photos circulating online of public gathering at Barangay Inayawan Cebu City. | Photo courtesy of Ronald Ravina

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Photos of residents from Barangay Inayawan gathering in a gym for rice distribution in the area on July 1, 2020 have been circulating online, and this was a cause of concern for village chief Kirk Bryan Repollo.

“Actually gahapon ko nakadawat ana nga picture and ako gireport sa pulis. Ako gipacheck sa tanod ron if nag sige ba silag distribute gihapon,” Repollo said.

(I received the pictures yesterday so I reported it to the police. I asked the village watchmen to check if they are still distributing.) 

Repollo said the distribution was not coursed through the barangay but was instead conducted by the Mayor’s Information Liaison Office (MILO), the coordinating office of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella to the barangays.

The village chief said that if the distribution continues, he will ask the help of the police to disperse the people as any form of public gathering is highly prohibited under the ECQ

“Kung maaktohan gyud sila, kay pwede dakpon ang nag-organize ana kay nagpa gathering na hinuon, which is a clear violation of the EO executed by Mayor Labella himself, who also created the said office, ” said Repollo. 

(If we catch them on the act, we will arrest the organizers because public gatherings are violations of the Executive Order of Mayor Labella, who himself created the said office.)

Read more: Barangay vs MILO, who holds the turf in the barangays?

Labella has announced before that the food aid will be coursed through the duly elected barangay officials, especially the barangay chiefs.

The city purchased 200,000 sacks of rice as food aid to the barangays during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), which is now extended to July 15, 2020.

The mayor instructed the barangay chiefs that they will be given prerogative on how to distribute the aid to the residents.

However, the chance to distribute the rice was not given to Repollo, who is a member of the opposition party, Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK).

“I just want to tell Cebu City Government that this pandemic is not a game or a joke.. They should be serious on this.. They should put to action the words they expressed in public,” he added.

This incident may put the barangay chief in danger of facing administrative charges from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

It can be recalled that two other barangay chiefs from the city have already been issued show-cause orders because of illegal gatherings in their areas of jurisdiction.

Read: DILG-Cebu City issues show-cause order on Basak San Nicolas captain

Read: Calamba village chief faces show-cause order over disco gathering

Read: Police files cases against 19 people behind Calamba fiesta, disco

With this, Repollo urged the MILO to follow the basic ECQ guidelines in the distribution of the rice aid so as not to risk incurring administrative charges as well as risk the lives of the residents.

The city government has yet to comment on the incident. /bmjo