ABC chief welcomes Tomas’ new order for tanods

CEBU, Philippines — The president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) in Cebu City is amenable to Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s order requiring tanods to submit accomplishment reports twice a month instead of weekly.

Councilor Philip Zafra said the new order is a welcome development.

“That’s a good development … dili kaayo pressure ang atong mga tanods sa paper work,” he said.

The new memorandum dated October 30, which aims to lessen tanods’ paper works, stemmed from the appeal of barangay tanods, citing the tedious process of coming up with a weekly report.

Based on the memorandum, the accomplishment report will still be submitted to the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (CCOSAP) every 5th and 25th of the month starting this November 25.

The submission of twice-a-month reports serves as a basis for the city government whether to continue or suspend the giving of the P5,000 monthly to the tanods.

Prior issuances of the same memorandum, including the previously mandated weekly submission of accomplishment reports are revoked.

Osmeña believes that his decision to pursue the twice a month mandatory accomplishment report is the best solution to assess barangay tanods’ performances.

He also pointed out that the city is willing to double tanods’ allowances should they perform their duty well.

“Ganahan lang ko makakita that they’re not throwing away people’s money. . . The issue is whether they earn what they are getting, Osmeña said.

On average, the 80 Cebu City barangays have at least 20 tanods.

Garry Lao, CCOSAP head, said the directive of the mayor was for the barangay tanods to do their job diligently; otherwise, they would not receive their allowances.

He said his office has also simplified the requirements and format of the accomplishment report after he personally discovered several inconsistent and falsified details of the submitted reports.

“Atong gi-simplify kanang realistic nila na reports ba kay daghan man kaayo ta’g na discover . . . there are reports na ilang gipang submit na pagtan-aw nako mura'g katouhan na murag dili pud ba,” he said.

Among those falsified reports submitted stated that tanods of a certain barangay were assigned in a public school and in barangay outposts, however during Lao’s verification, school authorities and residents claimed that there were none.

This prompted Lao to require barangay tanods to attach pictures of their operations or assignments in their report as proof of their duty.

Zafra, on the other hand, hopes the incident was just an isolated case.

But he assured to look into the report and will ask for barangay captains concerned to oversee the tanods’ assignments.

Once the allegations are proven true, Zafra said he would suggest a disciplinary action against the tanods involved.

He said though due process will be properly observed like giving tanods the opportunity to explain their side first. (FREEMAN)