Vegetable farmer Valeriano Cariquitan of Barangay Mantalongon, Dalaguete shows his cabbage farm that is heavily damaged by the long dry spell. (CDN PHOTO/FERDINAND EDRALIN)
The Cebu Capitol can no longer wait for feedback from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on its request for exemption from the ban on distribution of El Niño relief assistance in the province.
Gov. Hilario Davide III said that once they are done with the procurement process, they would distribute the assistance even without authority from the Comelec.
“We don’t want to be accused of neglecting or abandoning those who are struggling amidst the drought. If someone dies, we will be blamed,” he told reporters yesterday.
Davide said they would instead course the assistance through the Philippine Red Cross or the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The election ban prohibits elected officials from directly distributing any form of assistance during the election period. Doing so constitutes an election offense, punishable with one to six years of imprisonment and perpetual disqualification from holding public office, among others.
The ban, however, does not prohibit local government units to tap third parties such as the DSWD to distribute the assistance for them.
Last week, Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas said they have started processing P7 million for the purchase of items to be distributed to affected families all over the province.
He said it would take at most two weeks to finish the process, but the items would be ready for release once he gets a go signal from the governor.
Davide wrote a letter addressed to Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim last April 8, asking for an exemption from the ban. Two weeks after, the provincial government still has not received any feedback from Comelec Manila.
Lim is the commissioner-in-charge of the campaign finance office. Comelec Central Visayas Director Jose Nick Mendros, in a recent interview, said Davide should have sent a petition addressed to the Comelec en banc.
Davide said he could make a follow up, but said he was
also busy, considering that election day is only less than two weeks away.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said he has not received nor was informed about any petition from Cebu regarding any plea for exemption.
“I cannot say how long can the Comelec en banc rule on any request for an exemption. I don’t think a request (for exemption) had been submitted (by the Cebu provincial government),” Jimenez said in a text message.
However, he said that if the letter was now with the commissioners, he would recommend for the provincial government to wait for the outcome. “Mabilis naman po sila kumilos (They act on it fast),” he added.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., in a separate interview, clarified that Capitol would need to secure authority from Comelec because the poll rules only state that “elected officials” are not allowed to distribute any form of assistance during this time.
“Their instructions don’t specify whether the local DRRM office can do such when this office will also complement the Provincial Social Welfare Office (PSWDO),” he said.
Tribunalo stressed his office could distribute relief aid without the presence of elected officials or those running for office.
Nonetheless, he said his office would still coordinate with Red Cross or the DSWD. The PDRRMO was earlier tasked by Davide to prepare the El Niño relief items composed of water pumps, storage and transport equipment, 5,000 sacks of rice, vegetable seeds and fruit seedlings for 25,000 affected farmers and school supplies for 25,000 children costing a total of P25 to P27 million.
In Cebu City, the prolonged dry spell also continues to hurt agriculture, with the number of affected farmers in 28 dry spell-stricken barangays now reaching 917 from last week’s 317 farmers.
In his report, Cebu City Agriculturist Jeolito Baclayon said the total amount of losses has reached to P32,629,500.
From four hectares, the totally damaged area reached 92.85 hectares and the partially damaged reached 119.7 hectares, according to Baclayon.