Relatives of barangay officials who died during their term of office can now claim benefits with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) after the government released about P28-million budget for such purpose.
DILG records showed there were 2,087 deceased barangay officials in the country for the past few years.
The figure composed of 365 barangay captains and 1,722 councilmen, barangay treasurers, secretaries and Sanguniang Kabataan chairpersons.
In Cebu City, Lorega-San Miguel barangay captain Lorenzo Monsanto was among the barangay captains who died during their term of office and his immediate relatives are entitled to receive such benefit.
The beneficiary-claimant of a deceased barangay captain is entitled to receive P20,000 as death benefit and P2,000 for burial expenses, while a beneficiary of other deceased barangay official will receive P10,000 as death benefit and P2,000 for burial expenses.
It was learned that the government released P28.6 million for death benefits of the 2,087 barangay officials nationwide through Executive Order 115. — Rene U. Borromeo/LPM