Village chair, 3 others nabbed for stealing cash aid

A village chair and three others were arrested by the city government of Manila on Thursday night for allegedly stealing funds meant for the poor under the government’s social amelioration program.

In a report by the Manila Police District, Mario Simbulan, 73, village chair of Barangay 608 in Manila, and three village staff attempted to steal the cash aid worth P8,000 from two residents using fake IDs. Jerson Ceniza, 30, and Renerio Salabo, 32, filed a complaint against Simbulan and Ma. Cristina Zara, 53; Isagani Darilay, 42; and John Mark Nagera, 24, all Barangay Hall employees.

Recovered from Darilay and Nagera were two ID cards bearing the names and addresses of the complainants. The ID cards were issued by Simbulan and were allegedly used to claim the cash aid. —Mariejo S. Ramos