Village officials whose family members are recipients of the Bawat Barangay Makikinabang (BBM) scholarship grants were advised to return the amount released to them.
Negros Occidental Board Member Richard Julius Sablan, president of the province’s Liga ng mga Barangay, issued the appeal Tuesday as complaints have reached the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
According to complaints, children or family members of certain officials in Bago City, Moises Padilla and Cauayan were among those who received PHP20,000 each as grantees of the presidential scholarship program for graduating college students.
“To all barangay captains, barangay officials with cases like this. Better just return it (the amount) so you wouldn’t have issues,” Sablan said in an interview.
He cited a village head in Bago City, who returned the amount given to her child to the Liga ng mga Barangay.
“So far, all the complaints were filed directly before the DILG,” Sablan said.
In a separate interview, DILG-Negros Occidental Director Teodora Sumagaysay said village officials should have recused themselves from availing of the scholarship grants for their family members.
“The rules of nepotism are up to the third civil degree of consanguinity or affinity. So it’s automatic: If it’s your child, you can’t avail it because it falls under what we call nepotism. Besides, let us remember if you are a public official, you should uphold public interest over and above personal interest,” she said.
On July 31, all 601 villages in Negros Occidental received a total of PHP120.2 million in financial assistance under the BBM program.
Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and Assistant Secretary Rea Uy Epistola handed the symbolic check from the Office of the President to Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Sablan.
Each village received PHP200,000 from the Presidential Assistance to Barangays under the Socio-Civic Projects Funds, half of which will be used for educational aid for five scholars.
In Negros Occidental, 3,005 qualified students are expected to benefit from the scholarship. (PNA)
