The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued a show cause order to the Toboso municipal government in Negros Occidental for the failure to release P6.8 million in assistance to Typhoon “Odette” victims, Mayor Richard Jaojoco confirmed Wednesday, March 23.
DILG provincial director Roselyn Quintana said Toboso was the only local government unit issued a show cause order in Negros Occidental.
The DILG has issued show cause orders against 48 local government units nationwide, 16 of which are in Western Visayas, for their slow distribution of cash aid to victims of Typhoon “Odette”.
Jaojoco said in the case of Toboso it has not just been slow distribution, they have not released any of the funds at all.
The town received P1.8 million from the Department of Budget and Management and P5 million from the Office of the President, he said.
The Sangguniang Bayan headed by Vice Mayor Jesse Rex Bartolome did not grant him authority to sign memorandums of agreements, which are required for the disbursement of the funds, Jaojoco said.
It is a shame that they let politics get in the way of releasing aid to the typhoon victims, he said.
Jaojoco said the SB has also failed to approve their 2022 budget.
We are still operating on a reenacted budget, he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government will disburse the P94.6 million National Housing Authority fund for typhoon victims in Negros Occidental as soon as they are granted an exemption by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
There is a Comelec ban on disbursement of such funds during the local campaign period that kicks off Friday, March 25.
“We are asking the NHA if they are covered by an exemption because if they tell us that they are then we will proceed” with the disbursement, Lacson said.
Lacson said the provincial government has not received a show cause order on the disbursement of typhoon aid.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the disbursement of the NHA funds has been slowed down by the delay in the local governments’ submission of their final list of recipients.
He also noted that while the NHA downloaded the funds in December, its release of the MOA and the guidelines on the disbursement was delayed.
The provincial government has been disbursing aid to the typhoon victims from its own funds, it has not been complacent, Diaz added.*