COSAP GRILLED OVER MONTHLY ALLOWANCE

Mayor warns tanods that City Hall will stop giving them their P4,000 monthly allowances if they can’t submit weekly report on anti-drug operations

Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse and Prevention (Cosap) head Garry Lao found himself in a heated position during the third quarterly assembly of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) yesterday.

Some village chiefs questioned the weekly consolidated accomplishment reports the City Government has required some 1,600 tanods in the 80 barangays to submit to Cosap.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña warned the tanods last August that City Hall will stop giving them their P4,000 monthly al- lowances unless they can submit a weekly report, particularly on their anti-drug operations in their area.

He said that since the City Government is not obligated to give the cash allowances, the tanods should “earn it, not that they’re entitled to it.”

Since the issuance of the memorandum from the executive department last Aug. 4, Lao said he has been calling for meetings with the barangays to orient them on the documents that should be attached to their reports.

However, there were some villages that failed to join the earlier meetings which may have resulted in a backlog of reports to furnish.

Others reportedly complained that this is an additional job for the tanods. It did not help that there were also some barangays who submitted vague reports, some even written on “mere scratch papers,” Lao said.

He said they had to return those with incomplete and informal formats for revision since the reports will be used to verify the situations in the community.

Although it has been more than a month since the issuance of the memorandum, Lao said some barangays still have yet to submit their reports.

Because of this, Lao had recommended canceling the pay of the tanods from Barangays Mambaling, Paril and Poblacion Pardo for August after the villages failed to submit their weekly consolidated accomplishment reports. He said Mayor Tomas Osmeña approved his recommendation.

Lao added that Barangays Bulacao, Capitol Site, Cogon Pardo, Kamagayan, Lorega San Miguel, Lusaran, Pasil, Sambag I, San Jose, Sapangdaku, Sto. Niño and Zapatera also failed to get their certification from Cosap, which is one of the requirements for the processing of their honorarium from the City, after they submitted incomplete reports.

Many of the barangay captains, though, including ABC President Philip Zafra, cried foul over the cancelation of the tanods’ allowances.

Apas village chief Ramil Ayuman said the matter is personal to them since it was only a few months ago when the allowances were reinstalled, and now these may be suspended again.

“Until now there are still barangay tanods who have yet to receive their pay for the months of January to June. I don’t understand. That’s why, we, the barangay captains feel like were put at a disadvantage. I would just like the administration to be more emphatetic with the situation in the barangays,” he said.

Lao, though, clarified that the submission of weekly reports do not involve political colors and is aimed at strengthening the efforts of the tanods in terms of public order and safety.

“There was a memorandum, so there is no politics in here. I just hope that the 80 barangays can work together with Cosap,” he said.