Mayor to sue purveyor of SAP ‘fake news’

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

Mayor Margarito Mission Jr. of San Remigio, Antique has flatly denied allegations that a dead woman was among the beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6’s emergency subsidy program.

Mission regarded the report as nothing but fake news.

And to discourage people from spreading false information, Mission said he will file a case against Lily Victoriano for violation of Republic Act No. 11469, or the “Bayanihan to Heal As One Act,”

Victoriano’s post went viral after she claimed that her dead sister was one of the beneficiaries of DSWD’s Social Amelioration Program.

In her post afternoon of April 18, Victoriano said, “Nene Eden Victoriano of Bugo, San Remigio, Antique. Pag bugtaw kg mag bangon ang ayuda paga batona! Kay ikaw na abay ka lista Hahaha! Huhuhu. Covid-19 bakit ka ganyan? Nanahimik c Nene ng 10yrs na pero gin pukaw pra mka baton ka grasya nga gina tagay-tagay. Oh my God! Patawara sila ky wla sila mkahibalo sang ila gina himo.”

Mission said Victoriano is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) currently based in Hong Kong.

But it was only Sunday afternoon that the San Remigio Municipal Special Welfare and Development (MSWD) Office received the list of the target SAP beneficiaries from Barangay Bugo.

In the same post, MSWD officer Rosa Ela Mission Sastrillo said that the number of beneficiaries given by the office for Barangay Bugo is 175, and not the 246 beneficiaries on a handwritten list.

“I just want to clear my name, the name of MSWD and DSWD Office that the list of Social Amelioration Program beneficiaries was received at 2:00 o’clock this afternoon (Sunday) by MSWDO, San Remigio,” she said.

She also posted a picture of the first page of the report Barangay Bugo, San Remigio headed by Barangay Captain, James Cuevas. But the report was signed by Barangay Kagawad Evelyn Tabaque.

Mission said it appeared that someone made and circulated a bogus list of beneficiaries.

“Maybe, someone wanted to discredit us. But rest assured that we are on top of the situation. There’s no irregularity in the SAP implementation,” he said.

As of April 20, the DSWD-6 has already completed the transfer of funds to all 133 local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas.