Barangay officials involved in irregularities in the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP) should be dismissed or removed from their offices.
This was what President Duterte requested from the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday after reading aloud the names of 89 barangay captains placed under preventive suspension for alleged irregularities.
The concerned village officials from Metro Manila and other regions are under investigation over complaints of alleged fund anomalies.
“Preventive lang ito. Suspendido ka habang iniimbestiga ka. Then at the end of the investigation, if you are good, then you are exonerated,” Duterte said during his speech aired on state television.
“But if you are guilty, I ask…I am asking now the Ombudsman, I’m requesting, most respectfully requesting the Ombudsman to dismiss him..dismiss them from the service,” he added.
In his public address, the President identified 11 barangay captains in Metro Manila, 11 from Cordillera Administrative Region, 12 in Region I (Ilocos Region), 10 in Region II (Cagayan Valley), three in Region III (Central Luzon), four in Region IV-A (CALABARZON); four in Region IV-B (MIMAROPA); nine in Region V (Bicol Region); eight in Region VI (Western Visayas); nine in Region VII (Central Visayas); seven in Region VIII (Eastern Visayas); three in Region X (Northern Mindanao); five in Region XI (Davao Region); and one in Region XIII (Caraga Administrative Region).
He said these village officials have been placed under preventive suspension for six months by the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the alleged SAP anomalies.
“Iyong mga pera na kaya ‘yung ibang mga hindi nakahin — hindi nila natanggap kasi kinontrol,” he said.
Duterte explained that he already warned against the messing with the distribution of the government’s relief assistance to families affected by the pandemic.
