OF the barangays that received the “aid” that Rama’s critics said is akin to a pork barrel fund, only those who belong with Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) might be able to return the aid.
Tejero Barangay Councilman Garry Lao, head of the Tejero Barangay Council’s oversight committee, said they were lucky because the P8 million that they received from City Hall in December remains intact.
“We still have money to return because our share of the assistance is deposited in the barangay’s account,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Lao said Tejero and most of those who belonged to BO-PK got their shares only in late December because of “delays” in the processing of their check.
Capitol Site Barangay Captain Manuel Guanzon, also with BO-PK, said they received P8 million, which they planned to use to purchase garbage trucks and materials for road concreting. But they would have to put these projects on hold since they will have to return the money.
“I can’t comment on it because I was not given that aid,” said Labangon Barangay Captain Victor Buendia when asked about the Notice of Disallowance.
(Buendia was the one who got Rama suspended for 60 days late last year. But just the other day, the Office of the Ombudsman also ordered the six-month suspension of Buendia for demolishing a market vendor’s stall in his barangay.)
On the other hand, the barangays where the village chief are allied with Rama got theirs earlier and had already spent the “aid” given to them.
The city council, when it deliberated the city’s 2015 annual budget during the last quarter of 2014, approved the P800 million lump sum assistance to barangays provided it was to be equally divided to the barangays, or at P10 million each.
Rama however removed the condition and partitioned the fund on his own, with each barangay receiving an amount ranging from P8 million to P13 million. The barangays were also left to decide how they wanted to spend their shares, which were released from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015.
Lao said Tejero decided to use their share to buy firetrucks but yesterday, the project was put on hold.
The barangay’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) was to convene at noon yesterday to bid out the project but when they were informed about the ND, they decided to cancel the meeting, Lao said.