Mayor urges public to report persons collecting money from Dole beneficiaries

CORDOVA Mayor Cesar “Didoy” Suan has urged the public, particularly Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (Tupad) beneficiaries in the town, to report unscrupulous individuals who reportedly collect at least P200 from them for unclear reasons.

In a statement posted on the Municipal Government of Cordova’s Facebook page, Suan called for an in-depth investigation on the reports received by his office that some coordinators of a certain political party reportedly do houseto-house collection amounting to P200 to P500 from the program beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole).

“Wala tay ni bisan kinsa nga gitugotan nga mangolekta ug tag P200 o any amount sa kadtong nakadawat sa DOLE TUPAD.

Palihug isumbong sa mayor’s Office o sa atong abogado kung kinsa to ang nangolekta kay atoang ipatawag og i-report sa Dole,” Suan said, in a statement posted on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022.

(We haven’t authorized anybody to collect P200 or any amount from those who received the Dole Tupad. Please report to the mayor’s office or to our lawyer those who collect money so we can summon them and report them to Dole).

The Municipal Government said it already has at least three names of persons who allegedly collected from Tupad beneficiaries and they are reportedly from Barangays Catarman and Poblacion.

During the last batch of distribution of the government’s cash assistance at the Cordova Sports Complex on Thursday, Suan clarified to the beneficiaries that the P4,040 cash assistance is only intended for them and that coordinators are not entitled to receive a portion of it.

“Dili kinahanglan hatagan ang coordinators tungod kay una dili ni ilahang kwarta. Ikaduha, nakadawat sab sila og P4,040,” he said, adding that coordinators would end up getting around P1 million if all the over 2,000 beneficiaries in the town gave them P500 each.

(You don’t have to give to coordinators. First, it’s not their money. Second, they also received the P4,040 assistance).

Suan said some Tupad beneficiaries who received the assistance on Wednesday, Sept. 7, reported to his office that coordinators also collected from them.

Suan said that some barangay captains and supporters of his political party did not agree when he did not replace the list of Tupad beneficiaries, which was made by coordinators under the previous administration.

But the mayor emphasized that he would not change the list, considering that the 2022 election already passed.