The LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF Davao city is now in the thick of distributing its one-time annual cash assistance to senior citizens, be they retirees receiving pension or just simply those already in their senior years.
One thing that we like in the manner of its distribution cum pay-out is that, unlike the national cash assistance, the local is done on a per barangay basis. The former is done simultaneous for beneficiaries from several barangays and the pay-outs are done in certain area far from others.. The result? It becomes too cumbersome and even more expensive for the beneficiaries.
The latest of these lumped pay-out of assistance from the national government was the one done in Daliao, Toril about two weeks ago. In that release of cash aid from the national government the recipients came from several barangays coming from areas outside Toril district. As consequence the beneficiaries spent more for fare, food and snacks expenses.
Other beneficiaries have to resort to renting vehicles to ferry them to the pay-out site and back to their barangays. What happened is that from out of the P5 thousand cash assistance a number of beneficiary seniors went home with barely P4,000 net after deducting from the amount their transportation and food expenses.
Besides, going to the pay-out site by beneficiaries residing in the highland villages requires them to leave their house much earlier hoping to catch public transportation or get better accommodation in vehicles they agreed to rent just to be able to arrive in the distribution area on time or earlier.
Meanwhile, the distribution of financial support coming from the LGU of Davao City that we were able to personally witness was done by the people from the City Social Services and Development Office CSSDO). It was very smooth and orderly. In fact in the pay-out we have personally seen, it took only less than half a day despite the more than three hundred beneficiaries, some of whom are already suffering from slowed down movement due to some physical disabilities.
Of course it was very well managed and that instructions were clearly made by the people from CSSDO who were tasked to do the distribution.
While many were hoping for an increase in the cash aid as committed by Councilor Nonoy Al-ag who claimed he was the author of the ordinance institutionalizing the cash aid, the amount remains the same – P1,500 per qualified beneficiary for the entire year.
Despite the smallness of the amount compared to the expectation of many, we were able to witness the happiness showing in the faces of the senior citizen beneficiaries. At least the amount was intact without a single centavo taken for sharing the cost of rent for vehicles or for transportation expenses.
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It is election time and many Davaoenos, especially residents of barangay Tacunan going up to Matina Biao, Biao Escuwela up to Calinan, are wondering who should be made to account for the reckless implementation of a bridge project connecting the creek that divides Tacunan from Catalunan Grande.
Yes, the bridge per se, has long been finished. However, the entire project is far from complete. It has no approach at the Tacunan side of the span. And while the Catalunan Grande side is provided with an approach, it has not been connected to the road.
Of course the consequence is that long after the bridge was finished it remains unpassable. The absence of the approach on the Tacunan end and the failure to connect the approach of the bridge at the Catalunan Grande side to the main road simply would not allow the utilization of the bridge by vehicles.
Now passersby still continue to use the old one-lane steel bridge which is now in a precarious condition.
Whose responsibility is the failure of having acquired a right of way for the approach and/or connecting the one approach to the main road? Is it the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH)? Is it the City Engineer’s Office (CEO)? Actually it all depends. If it is a nationally-funded bridge project, then it is the DPWH; if it is a project of the local government of Davao, then it should be the CEO’s.
But how come not any of the two agencies seem to be mindful of the problem attendant to the bridge project? For certain it has long been paid in full and those who benefitted from the payment – the contractor and the kickback takers – have long enjoyed, even exhausted, their booty.
We are certain that we are not the only one who noticed and even criticized this waste of people’s money by those who are entrusted by its owners – the people.
Unfortunately the agencies concerned are able to show their mastery in showing no concern for the people who are paying for their salaries and other caprices.
We have been writing a lot of times on this issue, and many of those who have seen the bridge condition may have already voiced out their observation in public.
Until now however, roughly three years since the bridge was finished, not necessarily completed, neither the DPWH nor the CEO of Davao City, has issued any statement on the matter.
How blind and deaf can they be?
And if there are those who are happy with the present status of the roughly 15 meter bridge, they are the cows and goats that made the bridge their resting place during the night.
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