Iloilo City to look into P3.5-M chicken dispersal mess

ILOILO CITY — Mayor Jose Espinosa III has created a three-member special committee to consolidate reports and investigations on alleged irregularities in a P3.5-million chicken dispersal project of the city government.

The committee, headed by lawyer Mary Milagros Hechanova of the city legal office, will determine among others liabilities in the project’s implementation, said lawyer Hernando Galvez, city administrator.

The chicken dispersal is a livelihood project for poor families who are recipients of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The city government’s Office of Internal Audit Services (OIAS) earlier reported that provisions in the contract with the supplier were not followed.

The OIAS reported that most of the 2,875 chicks distributed to indigent families weighed below the prescribed 300 grams as stipulated in the project contract with supplier Foodwealth Agrovet.

The report submitted by lawyer Joan Montaño, OIAS head, also noted that the chicks did not undergo certification by the city veterinarian before these were distributed, with some of these sickly or dying shortly after distribution. —Nestor P. Burgos Jr.