Capiz brgy officials found guilty in Yolanda fund mess

The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas has ordered the three-month suspension of Barangay Kagawad Marilyn Delfin and Marites Borro of Ilaya, Pontevedra in Capiz after they were found guilty of simple misconduct.

They were also charged with grave coercion together with Ma. Lyle Cortel, a barangay day care worker.

According to complainant, Mildred Vargas, she and her daughter went to the Pontevedra municipal hall last August 2015 to claim the 130,000 given by the government as Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) for victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

Vargas said that out of the 130,000 ESA, 110,000.00 would be given to the barangay officials intended for the benefit of other residents who could not avail of the cash assistance.

After receiving the money, they were forcibly prevented by respondents from leaving until they turned over the money.

After a brief scuffle, 19,500.00 was taken by the respondents, who returned only P500 to Vargas.

According to Deputy Ombudsman Paul Elmer Clemente, “Borro and Delfin’s act of preventing complainant and her daughter from leaving the premises of the municipal hall against their will was not made under authority of law or in the exercise of a lawful right.”

He added that “even granting that complainant agreed to share a portion of the cash assistance she received from the government, the same is not a sufficient justification for respondents to use force or violence against complainant’s daughter and prevent her from leaving the municipal hall until she would give the amount of 110,000.”

Clemente directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to implement the suspension order.