The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Friday that there is no letup in the anti-corruption drive down to the barangay level in a bid to rid rogue officials from the government.
DILG Undersecretary for Barangay Operations Martin Diño said that the government’s target are public servants, including barangay officials involved in malversation of public funds, falsification of public documents, ghost deliveries, hiring of ghost employees, and ghost projects, stressing that the DILG has a functional “Bantay Korupsiyon’’ mechanism.
He said that President Duterte will exhaust all possible avenues in his remaining time in office to have corrupt public officials, including barangay officials, punished under the full force of the law.
Diño reminded that the DILG merely enforces the law as the Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to suspend or sack government officials from their posts.
Aside from the DILG, Diño explained that the city or municipal council may file charges against rogue barangay officials.
But in the name of due process, Diño said the DILG will see to it that the charges filed against the barangay officials merit credence, citing that baseless complaints are sometimes hurled against parties of the opposing groups.
He said that the 89 barangay captains allegedly involved in Social Amelioration Program (SAP)-related irregularities issued with six-month preventive suspension which end in March made public by the President last Jan. 18 are only the initial list with more names of other unprincipled government personnel expected to be added in the roster.
However, administration critics chided the move stressing that it was premature as no final resolution has been rendered by the Office of the Ombudsman.