Cagayan de Oro council panel to submit aid mess report to DILG

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – A city council committee in Cagayan de Oro will submit a report of a councilor, who alleged fraud in the 2021 distribution of cash aid to needy people during a crucial period of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday, March 6.

Councilor Joyleen Mercedes Balaba, the chairperson of the city council committee on social services, said that although the committee did not find evidence of corruption in Councilor James Judith’s report, it decided to submit it to the DILG. 

Judith has alleged that former Cagayan de Oro mayor Oscar Moreno, former city administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., and former City Social Services and Development Office overseer Michael Christopher Fabello were liable for graft and even plunder. 

He submitted the report to the city council on February 27.

Judith alleged that as much as P50 million of a P767.8-million aid, given by national government to help those suffering due to the pandemic in the city, was lost to graft, a conclusion he made based on his findings.

He alleged that the double entries and other discrepancies showed the lists of beneficiaries were padded, and he held Moreno, Sabuga-a, and Fabello responsible for it.

The findings were contained in the report Judith submitted as chairman of a sub-committee of Balaba’s social services committee.

Balaba said her committee did not uncover any evidence of corruption, but her fellow committee members still decided to allow the DILG to determine if there was evidence to file a case against Moreno and his former officials based on Judith’s findings.

“We decided to do this so that Judith cannot say that the majority of us did not give him the benefit of the doubt. We know that the DILG will not find merit in his allegations,” Balaba said.

Judith’s report alleged the existence of double entries and fictitious names of respondents in several barangays such as Bugo, Balulang, Caniton, Nazareth and Lapasan. 

The P787.8-million aid was disbursed by the national government to Cagayan de Oro City to assist 293,502 residents during the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) two years ago, amid the pandemic.

In his report, Judith claimed that a family of four should have received P4,000 in aid from the national government based on the list prepared by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 10. 

“We have samples of those who were on the list but did not receive any money,” he said.

Judith accused Moreno and the two former officials of corruption, asserting that “they had full control and supervision” over the distribution of the aid.

Moreno, however, denied the allegation, stating that neither he nor Sabuga-a and Fabello had any access to the P787.8-million fund 

“The aid was downloaded by the national government to the DSWD, who then transferred it to the city government. The money was never given to us,” Moreno said.

He said DSWD representatives were present during the distribution of the aid to the residents, and strict requirements were in place.

“After a resident received the money, DSWD and City Social Welfare and Development CSWD personnel would take their picture with the money as proof,” Moreno said.

Balaba said DSWD personnel, who held the funds, accompanied city hall’s social workers during the payouts.

She said she found it unfortunate that Judith had cast aspersions on Moreno, who had received widespread praise for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city.

She dismissed Judith’s report as a “rehash” of the previous city council’s investigation into the matter.

“The previous council did not find any wrongdoing in the distribution. I do not know where Judith got his conclusion since he is using the same data the council had before,” she said.

Balaba also said the DSWD had already cleared Moreno during the previous city council’s investigation, and officials had concluded that the discrepancies were minor and a result of errors in listing, something that had been anticipated before the distribution. 

During a news conference on Wednesday, March 1, Moreno said city hall returned more than P400,000 to the DSWD. The money was returned by people who mistakenly received more than they got as a result of the listing errors. – Rappler.com