Ex-mayor fined, officer suspended
The Office of the Ombudsman has fined the former mayor of Daanbantayan and suspended the town’s social welfare and development officer for hastily disqualifying some survivors of typhoon Yolanda from receiving emergency shelter assistance (ESA).
Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Vincent Deo Albeos found former mayor Augusto Corro and MSWD officer-designate Heidi Aplece guilty of simple negligence.
Since Corro is no longer in office, the antigraft office fined him equivalent to two-monthsworth of salary. Aplece, on the other hand, was ordered suspended for two months without pay.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales approved the joint resolution on September 7, 2017.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by former town councilor Renato Benatiro on August 11, 2015.
Benatiro of Barangay Tapilon was one of the 16,613 beneficiaries on the list submitted to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) -7 as basis for the release of ESA amounting to P425.8 million.
Benatiro said that when the fund was released to the municipality, the list of beneficiaries was revalidated and his name was marked “unsafe zone,” which referred to the location of his residence.
DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 24 dated November 21, 2014 provides that families whose houses were destroyed would receive P30,000 while families whose houses were damaged would receive P10,000. However, those living in unsafe zones or “no build” zones were disqualified from receiving the aid.
Benatiro said the respondents do not have authority to declare a certain area as dangerous or unsafe zone because only the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) can do so.
Meanwhile, Corro said the 40-meter No Build Zone Policy issued by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR) was used as basis in identifying danger or unsafe zones.
He revealed that while the municipality has a Comprehensive Land Use Plan and multi-hazard maps, it has not actually determined its danger or unsafe zones due to lack of technical personnel.
Corro also clarified that the municipality merely withheld the ESA of those residing near the shoreline pending the requested technical assistance from DENR.
However, the DSWD memorandum requires the utilization of CLUPs and the multi-hazard maps in classifying certain areas into safe or unsafe.
DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau-7 Regional Director Loreto Alburo, in his reply dated March 25, 2015 to Benatiro, said Barangay Tapilon is generally not within a danger or unsafe zone for rain-induced landslide and flooding.
Corro, on July 30, 2015, wrote a letter to Engr. Wilfredo Lee, Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services of DENR-7, requesting for technical assistance to establish the unsafe zone in the municipality.
The anti-graft office said the respondents have contradicted themselves when they disqualified Benatiro but, four months later, claimed that the municipality has not yet determined its danger or unsafe zones.
“To reiterate, respondents miserably failed to observe a mandatory requirement under Memorandum Circular No. 24 when they hastily labeled complainant and several others as residing within the unsafe zones, without proper reference to the municipality’s CLUP and multi-hazard maps,” the resolution reads.