Alleged Yolanda Aid anomaly: Town mayor, worker sued

CEBU, Philippines - The mayor of Daanbantayan and the town’s social welfare officer are facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly removing the names of Yolanda survivors from the list of beneficiaries of the Emergency Shelter Assistance fund.

Renato Benatiro, a former councilor of the town, sued Mayor Augusto Corro and Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer Heide Aplece for malversation of public funds, graft and corrupt practice, grave misconduct, oppression, conduct unbecoming a public servant, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service.

 Benatiro also filed a separate complaint of threats and grave coercion against Corro.

The Ombudsman - Visayas received the complaint last Tuesday, August 11.

Benatiro, a resident of Tapilon, Daanbantayan, alleged that the respondents changed the masterlist of beneficiaries of the ESA fund after the Department of Social Welfare and Development approved the request for funding based on the original master list the town submitted.

Benatiro alleged further that the respondents misappropriated the ESA fund by overhauling the certified original masterlist of beneficiaries.

 Benatiro’s house was among those damaged by typhoon Yolanda that hit the country last November 8, 2013.

Social workers reportedly assured typhoon survivors that those whose houses were “totally damaged” would receive P30,000 while those whose houses were “partially damaged” would be given P10,000.

 In February 2015, the DSWD main office downloaded P425,870 million as ESA funds to Daanbantayan, something that Corro confirmed.

On March 28, 2015, a certain Randy Taghoy reportedly informed the survivors in Barangay Tapilon that Corro and Aplece ordered “reassessments” on their houses.

Taghoy also reportedly informed them about the “updated” list of beneficiaries from the barangay. In the new list, some residents reportedly had their houses reclassified from “totally destroyed” to “partially destroyed.”

 Other residents, including Benatiro, also appeared to have their houses under the unsafe zone while some were classified as sharers. Others disappeared from the list but none was reclassified from partially damaged to totally, Benatiro said.

 Benatiro said that if it is the updated list that would be followed, there will be a huge excess in the funds the DSWD main office approved.

 Benatiro said that when he inquired about the legality of the reclassification, he was allegedly ridiculed and insulted because of his political affiliation.

 Benatiro said Corro and Aplece are not authorized to disqualify beneficiaries from the original list and to declare a certain area as unsafe when, in fact, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-7 certified that Barangay Tapilon is not within the danger zone for rain-induced landslide and flooding.

 Benatiro said that when he spoke to Corro, the mayor reportedly told him he would stand by his decision to disqualify the victims, which would result to P18 million in savings.

 Benatiro said Corro continued to distribute the ESA fund to the residents of Barangay Tapilon using the updated list.

 He asked the Ombudsman to suspend Corro and Aplece preventively while it investigates the complaint.

Explanation

Corro denied removing names from the list and told The Freeman he will face any investigation into the issue.

He said that he is not yet done distributing the ESA funds, especially to residents in the danger areas since he still has to wait for the assessment of the MGB.

He said that out of 21,676 households, 16,613 were included in the list but the list still needs to be revalidated.

He said the first batch of around 10,800 households from 20 barangays also received their financial aid totaling to an estimated P265 million.

Corro said he cannot distribute the remaining P160 million to the other typhoon survivors just yet since he has to ensure that they have complied with the guidelines set by DSWD.

“Naa ma’y naa sa listahan nga di qualified, naa pu’y wala sa listahan nga qualified. I have to make sure. I should have legal basis,” he said.

Corro said the allegations are politically motivated.

“Kuyawan na sila. Ila ra kong samok-samokon. Wa ta mahadlok kay nagtinarong man ta. That’s not new to me. I am just appealing to them nga tagaan og kalinaw ang mga tawo,” he said. — /JMO (FREEMAN)