BAGUIO CITY – Representative-elect Mauricio G. Domogan will strongly recommend to concerned government agencies that national and local officials should be hands off in the implementation of government ‘ayuda’ programs to avoid conflicts in the listing of recipients, among other related issues and concerns.
He vowed to vigorously pursue this recommendation to leave the implementation of the various assistance programs to the responsible agencies because there is no need for national and local officials to directly interfere with the matter as the responsibility is lodged with those government offices that have been implementing such programs over the past several years.
“We should allow the concerned government agencies to independently implement their respective assistance programs because they are fully aware of the rules and regulations governing their respective activities even without the involvement of national and local officials. We do not want that the government assistance programs will be influenced by politicians because it will surely defeat the very purpose of the initiative, which is for the benefit of the members of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors,” Domogan stressed.
The former mayor and congressman claimed that he does not want these issues that have transpired in the past be repeated because these cases involve the proper utilization of public funds.
According to him, the decision on who will benefit from the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) should be solely left with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); the beneficiaries of the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) should also be left to the Department of health while the recipients of the Tulong Pangkabuhayan Para sa Ating Disadvantaged and Displaced Workers program (TUPAD) should be up to the Department of labor and Employment (DOLE).
Domogan pointed out that the concerned government agencies and their regional offices are directly in touch with their respective counterparts in the local governments that is why there should be no problem in the crossmatching of the identified beneficiaries of the programs and the politicians have no actual direct role to perform in such instances.
He stipulated that he will make the appropriate representations with the concerned government agencies upon assumption into office as the city’s Representative to the House so that the matter will be immediately addressed to ensure the smooth implementation of the government’s assistance programs and that the right beneficiaries will be the ones actual recipients of aid under each of the initiatives.
The congressman-elect expressed hope that the concerned government agencies and even the national and local officials will support his proposal because it will help in restoring the trust and confidence of the people in the credibility of government assistance programs where the beneficiaries will be those that really need such help to gradually move them out from the shackles of poverty by using the program benefits for their right needs. HENT
