Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has ordered City Hall’s resident ombudsman, Lawyer Homer Cabaral, and other city lawyers to investigate the anomalies surrounding the Odette financial assistance distribution.
“There is no more need to form a panel because there is an office for that. They should be quick enough to give me their findings,” said Rama.
The mayor ordered Cabaral to get to the bottom of the issues especially the personnel who may be behind the anomalies.
It won’t matter if they are from the barangay, Mayor’s Information and Liaison Office (MILO), or the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), they will face the consequences.
“If there is a need for anyone to be prosecuted, file a case on behalf of the city government. I want it soon even before June 30,” said Rama.
The mayor wants the findings even sooner and if possible by next week so that the appropriate charges can be filed if there is a necessity.
Rama wants to start his fresh term with a clean slate so he wants the issues resolved before his inauguration on June 30.
He has already warned that those involved behind the anomalies will lose their jobs in the City Hall and the city will prosecute them in court as well.
The DSWS continues to investigate the incidents in the barangays where deceased individuals were listed as Odette beneficiaries.
So far, the Barangay Poblacion Pardo officials and MILO have met with the DSWS legal team to discuss the list.
Poblacion Pardo Barangay Captian Archie Araw-araw has requested the investigation after they found out names of deceased residents on the final list of the beneficiaries for the third round of Odette financial assistance last June 5, 2022.
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