Año: 50 barangay captains to be suspended amid probe into SAP 'misuse'
MANILA, Philippines — At least 50 village chiefs are facing preventive suspension over the alleged misuse of funds intended to help poor households and workers displaced by pandemic lockdowns, the interior department said.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has logged 155 criminal complaints against barangay chairpersons accused of anomalies in the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP). The complaints have been submitted to the ombudsman.
"Within the week, we expect that initially, 50 barangay captains would be slapped with preventive suspension while the ombudsman is investigating the administrative aspect of their cases," Año said during a meeting of the government's pandemic task force in Davao City last Monday.
Of the 50 village chiefs, 13 are from Metro Manila, 13 are from Ilocos region, 11 are from CALABRZON, ten are from Cagayan Valley and three are from Central Luzon.
"Others will follow as the ombudsman conducts its investigation," Año added.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who presided over the meeting of the pandemic task force, said no one would be spared in the government's crackdown against corruption.
"I said (Sen.) Bong, (Go)...Even if he is our friend, even if he helped us, even if they contributed money to help us (during the campaign)... We did not talk about allowing you (donors) to engage in corruption just because you contributed (to our campaign)," Duterte said.
The president, nevertheless, noted that campaign donors are already rich so they no longer need to engage in corrupt activities.
The government had allocated P205 billion for the SAP, which provided emergency subsidies to low-income households and workers in areas that were under community quarantine.
Last May, Duterte offered a P30,000 reward to anyone who can provide factual information about officials who pocket SAP funds. During his fifth state of the nation address last month, Duterte asked village chiefs to "stop acting like God" and threatened to file cases against those who are into irregularities.
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