Caloocan mayor threatens lawsuit over repacked, undistributed food aid

These are the items residents of Caloocan City should see in the food packs sent by the city government. If some goods are missing, prompt Mayor Oscar Malapitan.

Malapitan has expressed concern over reports some emergency food packs from the city were being opened, with contents reduced, and repacked in the barangay.

“May mga kapitan daw na ginagawang dalawa ang isang food pack,” Malapitan told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview. “Maaaring malinis ang hangarin o hindi natin alam ang dahilan.”

“Kung anuman ang dahilan, ayoko ng ganoon. Kung ano ang ipinamimigay ng syudad, iyon ang dapat na matatanggap ng mga tao,” he said.

At the same time, Malapitan threatened to have the barangay captains in Caloocan City suspended and sued if they fail to distribute the much-needed food aid by the locked-down residents.

The city government has received numerous complaints from different villages who have yet to receive relief packs, he said.

“Ito ang panahon ng pagkakaisa at tulungan kaya pakiusap ko sa mga kapitan ay gampanan ang tungkulin na kanilang sinumpaan para sa kanilang mahihirap na nasasakupan na nangangailangan ng agarang ayuda,” Malapitan said.

He said the city government has already released hundreds of thousands of food packs for distribution at the barangay level.

“Patuloy na gumagawa ng mga paraan ang inyong lokal na pamahalaan para maihatid ang kailangang tulong. Dito ko kinakailangan ang pakikiisa ng mga opisyales ng barangay para walang maiwan sa mga Caloocaño,” he said.

Luzon has been placed on enhanced community quarantine since March 15 in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease in the country.

As of April 10, the Department of Health has recorded 4,915 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 221 deaths.

Mayor Oca Malapitan inspects the repacking of food packages in Caloocan High School.