Thursday, June 10, 2010

Security for Filipino people depend on 4 P’s terminated? Political or not?

Misamis Occidental——The Holy Bible said Esau lost his birthright by selling it for a bowl of meat to his brother Jacob thereby losing the blessing. This is what happened here where some 82 beneficiaries of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program otherwise known as 4Ps lost their blessing when they sold their cash card/ATM to a losing mayoralty candidate as a collateral for the P500 as a exchange for their votes last May 10, 2010 election.

This developed when reports reaching the provincial government that political leaders of losing mayoralty candidate Diego Ty of Plaridel, this province has been conducting house–to–house campaign urging beneficiaries of 4Ps to surrender their cash card/ATM card in exchange of P500 before the May 10, 2010 election.

According to one of the Municipal Social Service Officers, Liezl A. Racho, “we immediately conducted an operation warning the people not to surrender their cash cards because it is a violation of the existing policy of 4Ps not to use the cash card as a guarantee for a loan or whatsoever debt the beneficiaries have.”

“But to no avail, the beneficiaries will not listen our pleading and even some of them said, “wala man na namo saligi” so they were forced to report to Regional Director Atty. Araceli F. Solamello of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region X who ordered Josie Q. Subingsubing, the Municipal Link officer to conduct on the spot inspection to verify if the reported turning–over of cash card is true as we continue warning the beneficiaries not to do this because it is a violation of the existing rules or policy of the 4Ps,” Racho added.

The inspection team discovered that some 82 4Ps beneficiary cash cards were missing after they conducted on the spot inspections in some barangays of the said town.

“Giaway pa gyud mi sa dihang amo silang gipapirma nga wala sa ilang position ang mga cash cards unya gihulga pa gyud ug wala pa gyud matagbaw, ila pa gyud ming gipa-blotter sa police pero wala gyud mi mahadlok kay gatrabaho lang mi sa among trabaho,” Racho further said.

But despite the warning not to surrender their cash cards to the leaders of the losing mayoralty candidate, the 4Ps’ beneficiaries still surrendered their ATM cards even after the reports that DSWD X RD Solamello recommended the termination of their benefits.

Subsequent on the spot inspection, the Municipal Link still discovered that some 4Ps’ beneficiaries have still surrendered the cash card/ATM to the said losing mayoralty candidate before and on the day of the election and when asked why they surrendered it for a measly P500 than the much bigger P1,500 monthly or depending in the family members which they received in quarterly basis, they replied “nga dugay pud maabut ug wala mi ipalit ug bugas”.

When the news of the regional director’s recommendation for termination reached the beneficiaries especially after the election where the candidates they supported lost the electoral process, they realized their mistakes, but it is too late for them.

The beneficiaries lambasted Plaridel Mayor-elect Agnes Carabal–Villanueva for terminating their 4Ps where in fact, Villanueva has nothing to do with their predicament because it is the Local Social Welfare Development and the Regional X office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development which recommended their termination after they were caught violating existing policy of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program otherwise known as 4Ps.

In other hand, political supporters of losing mayoralty candidate Diego Ty alleged that they were harassed by Mayor Villanueva after the Plaridel Water District cut out their supply of water, but upon verification, the complainants had not paid their accounts for many months.

“The Plaridel Water District (PWD) is only doing its job in shutting off their services for those who failed to pay their obligations,” an employee of the said agency said.

Meanwhile, even though the ashes of the May 10 election has already settled, supporters of losing candidate Diego Ty in Plaridel still claimed that Mayor Agnes Carabal–Villanueva has been harassing them by tumbling the market stools they occupied, but on the spot inspection showed a different things, no market stools had been tumbled but the policy of first come first serve basis is being implemented.

“We are doing the legal thing and it is not political harassment. If you are caught violating the law, then you suffered the consequences of your action, meaning what you sow, you reap,” Villanueva said. (the MT News Network)

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