Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 8) — The national government has filed more cases against local officials found remiss in their duties to distribute cash aid during the COVID-19 crisis, an official said Wednesday.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said administrative complaints have been filed against 182 barangay officials, while 19 mayors have been asked to appear in court to explain their failure to properly distribute financial assistance to poor families severely affected by strict lockdown measures.
He added 886 local government officials are the subject of criminal cases stemming from complaints of 596 private citizens. Of this number, 195 criminal cases have been filed with the fiscal office, Año added.
Meanwhile, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. lauded several local government units and their chief executives for successfully responding to the health crisis in their localities. He called Davao City, Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Ilocos Region, and Cagayan Valley as “model” areas when it comes to COVID-19 response.
“We have seen that the areas with unity of command and unity of effort, we were able to manage and contain the spread of the COVID-19,” he said in a public meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte and other key members of the COVID-19 task force.
Galvez said the lack of unity between local executives lead to failure in response and surge in COVID-19 cases, citing Cebu City as an example.
“Kailangan pong magkaisa tayo po dahil kasi minsan pagka po hindi nagkakaroon ng pagkakaisa katulad ng nangyari po sa Cebu na nagkaroon po ng hidwaan sa politika, talaga pong minsan po hindi po sumusunod ang mga tao,” he said.
[Translation: We need to be united. When we are not, similar to the political divide in Cebu City, people do not follow the rules.]
Duterte said Cebu City saw a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases and became a coronavirus hotspot because residents were “nonchalant” in the early days of the health crisis.
“We had all the warnings in place and the police were very strict but following the national direction. But it could only arrest so many… People were partying, gambling outside of their houses in Talisay, that’s in Cebu. Basta para sa kanila balewala [They ignored it],” he said.
The Philippines’ COVID-19 cases have reached 47,873, with the Department of Health reporting 1,540 new infections on Tuesday. Cebu City recorded 7,015 cases, with 146 new cases recorded on Tuesday.
