Scavengers hit ‘anomaly’ in waste project

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – At least 35 garbage scavengers have complained about an alleged irregularity in the Solid Waste Management project being implemented in Barangay Felisa of this city.

Barangay Chairwoman Mona Dia Jardin said Tuesday the scavengers had demanded from the executive assistant of Mayor Monico Puentevella to return their money to them, at P9,000 each.

The P9,000 was part of the P10,000 loan they availed themselves for the SWM project, under the Self-Employment Assistance — Kaunlaran.

The loan was facilitated by SWM executive assistant Ma. Fe Tresfuentes on December 2014 for the 50 waste pickers from the Barangay Felisa Informal Waste Sector. The money came from the Bottoms-Up Budgeting program of the national government allocated to the local government for implementation.

Last September 12, the project beneficiaries received the P10,000 cash loan, but Tresfuentes asked them to return the P9,000, leaving them with only P1,000 each.

Tresfuentes allegedly told them the P9,000 from each of them, amounting to P450,000, will be used to purchase a new dump truck, which cost P700,000, to be used for hauling of garbage.

This prompted the scavengers to complain, saying this was not what they had agreed upon with Tresfuentes last December. They insisted that the loan was for trading, and not for hauling.

In response, Tresfuentes allegedly told them their money is now with the Department of Social Services and Development and that they have to submit their individual project proposal to get this back.

The scavengers on Saturday went to file their complaint to Jardin, who in turn called for a meeting with Tresfuentes the next day. The problem, however remained unresolved.

Jardin said there must be some irregularities as the approved project proposal last December stipulated that the loan was intended for trading and not for hauling of garbage.

The use of public funds for other purpose was a form of malversation, she said, adding that the amount of P450,000, taken from the scavengers, was not even enough to buy a brand new dump truck, worth P700,000.

The village official said the scavengers will wait until today for Tresfuentes or DSSD head Pacita Tero to return the money or they will be forced to seek legal actions.

For now, they are mulling the filing of charges against Tresfuentes and the city government for malversation of public funds, qualified theft, and graft and corruption, Jardin added.

Tresfuentes and Tero, for their part, however, denied the allegations against them, insisting that there was an agreement between the group of scavengers and the city government. “We have evidence that they deposited the money for safekeeping to the DSSD,” she said.

Tresfuentes also insisted there was no irregularity in the transaction and that everything had gone through proper process. She said they will meet again with the complainants to settle the issue, and if they wanted the group project to become an individual project.

Tero said the money will be turned over to the group for as long as they follow the right procedure. She revealed that 19 out of the 50 members of the group have already received the remaining P9,000 of their loan on Monday after they submitted their project proposals to her office.