CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – “I am done with my part.”
Councilor James Judith II, chairman of the ad hoc committee of the city council, submitted on Monday, Feb. 27, his report on the reinvestigation of the special Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) ‘’ayuda’’ (assistance) in this city.
COUNCILOR James Judith II, ad hoc committee chair, shows his report on the reinvestigation of the special Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) ‘ayuda’ (assistance) distribution in Cagayan de Oro City during the regular session of the city council on Monday, Feb. 27. (Photo courtesy of CdeO City Council Facebook page)
Judith did not personally divulge the names of three former officials who were accordingly responsible for the alleged anomaly in the distribution as he said it could be politicized and weaponized.
But based on the findings from the report, the three former officials were former Mayor Oscar Moreno, former acting city administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., and former City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) executive overseer Michael Christopher Fabello.
Moreno’s involvement, according to the report, was conveniently “low-key” but it said that he had full control and supervision over the two former officials.
“In short, just like the doctrine of qualified political agency but in the local level, the actions taken by Mr. Sabuga-a (as well as Mr. Fabello) in the performance of his official duties are deemed the acts of the mayor unless the mayor himself disapprove such acts,” the report said.
After examining the payout list from the CSWDO, Judith said he saw anomalies as many beneficiaries’ names from different barangays were almost similar with a one letter difference either in their first, middle, or family names.
Only four out of the 80 barangays in this city were included in the presentation or the double entry issue based on the report. These include the barangays of Nazareth, Balulang, Bugo, and Canitoan.
The report said the issue was consistent with other barangays except Barangays 1-40 which have a small number of recipients and are not difficult to check and verify.
The report also has the names of two residents in Barangays Patag and Kauswagan, respectively, who executed an affidavit that they did not receive the cash aid but their names were indicated in the payout list.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, March 1, Moreno called Judith’s accusations “irresponsible, reckless, and stupid,” clarifying that the list that was being used in the distribution was approved by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Moreno explained the first list from the DSWD only contained a few names, prompting them to add more lists to maximize the budget and help more residents during the pandemic, with the approval from the DSWD Regional Office 10.
Included in the list were the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT), Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), senior citizens, and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
“Everything has been submitted to DSWD for approval. Like I said, in the agreement it’s very clear that we can distribute only to the people who were in the list,” he said.
Barangays were also asked to submit their lists just in case there were more names in order to maximize the distribution within the allowable parameters.
However, Moreno said there was no assurance due to the limiting conditions such as a maximum of four individuals per household and not a recipient of other programs. Eligible residents were entitled to receive P1,000 cash each with a maximum of P4,000 per family.
The former local chief executive acknowledged that there were still duplication issues after the distribution despite the effort of the city government to design a system to avoid the problem.
Moreno said his administration made an effort to notify through writing those recipients who received the assistance more than once in order to return the money. Many recipients returned the money, he said.
He also said that he established a grievance committee, chaired by the city director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), that had been involved in the concerns and grievances that had been put forward pertaining to the ayuda distribution.
Moreno said the city government was cleared as there was no adverse finding. “That adverse finding of Judith maybe he’s jealous,” Moreno said.
Moreno also clarified that Sabuga-a and Fabello did not personally receive the check for ayuda funding from DSWD, as it had been directly credited to the account of the city government.