CITY OF MALOLOS—The close to 5,000 new village leaders in Bulacan who took their oath Friday and Saturday here brace for better performance of their duties and functions including honesty in distributing relief goods and other dole outs to their poor constituents during calamities following surmounting reports that they corrupt the goods.
Jim Valerio, Bulacan provincial administrator said earlier that one of the first tasks of the newly elected officials in all the 569 barangays in the province is to themselves lead their folks in staging a massive cleaning of their respective villages to help the province win its war against dengue.
Bulacan have recently launched an all out war against dengue after cases of death has rose to 21, based on the last toll, according to Irish San Pedro, Bulacan dengue surveillance officer.
The victims many of which were children are residents of the cities of San Jose del Monte City, Malolos and Meycauayan and few cases in Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas and Plaridel.
Valerio said all the village heads and councilmen including the Sangguniang Kabataan officials are expected to actively participate in the all out war against dengue as one of their very first tasks when they first assume their respective positions on Dec. 1.
Liz Mungcal, Bulacan provincial disaster risk reduction management office (PDRRMO) head said at a media disaster management and coverage training here that she will bring to the attention of Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado the reports that many village heads have corrupted the relief goods for their constituents who were victims of floods during previous typhoons and in last year’s Ondoy and Pepeng.
“Iyan po ang ipaparating natin sa ating gobernador,” Mungcal said responding to media participants in the seminar who informed her of the ill practice by many village heads.
Mark Romer Eleogo, reporter photographer of local weekly newspaper News Core in Bulacan brought out the corruption of the village heads which he encountered in Calumpit and Bulakan towns during coverage of relief distribution during typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng last year.
Mungcal said while her office will receive the numbers of affected families in each of the towns and cities in Bulacan that are in need of the relief goods and the provincial social welfare and development office is in-charge in validating the said numbers, they leave the distribution to each of the municipal governments.
The municipal governments coursed the distribution through the respective villages in their area.
Eleogo said many village heads will declare to the people in the barangays that only a few and limited packs were allegedly send by the municipal government and the provincial government that’s why not everybody will be given.
Eleogo said the ill practice of the village heads that corrupted the relief goods for their own and their preferred constituents had led many villagers to seek for his help to acquire relief goods for them from GMA Kapuso Foundation.
According to Eleogo, when the Kapuso Foundation distributed goods, it avoided coursing it through to the barangay captains and went directly to the recipients.
“Kaya dumeretso ang Kapuso Foundation sa mga tao at hindi pinadaan sa kapitan,” he said when it distributed relief packs to residents in Calumpit.
Eleogo said the ill practice had been on for years even during the floods in the previous typhoons where Calumpit was hardly hit.
Florentina Calalang, OIC regional deputy program manager for “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (4P’s) of the national government said many barangay leaders who run in the last Oct. 25 polls were trying to use the benefits from the program for their own candidacy.
Calalang said they had a hard time explaining to the people that the 4P’s are not a “dole out” project of the local candidates but is part of the pro-poor program under the 4P’s.
“Many candidates in the barangay elections, both the re-electionists and the new ones in the promised voters they will include their poor neighbors and constituents as beneficiaries for the 4P’s if they will vote for them and even threatened some that they will not be included in the beneficiaries or their names will be removed from the list if they will not vote for them,” Calalang said.
She said the respective municipal social welfare and development officers through their parent coordinators immediately corrected those beliefs so that the program will be stopped from being used and abused as a political propaganda by local candidates.