Ukay-ukay Vendor Takes on Local Government in Kidapawan Over Claims Of Corruption

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Ukay-ukay Vendor Takes on Local Government in Kidapawan Over Claims Of Corruption

Abner P. Francisco

Tuesday, 03 August 2010

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A peso for the whistleblower: WATCH Kidapawan members raise bail bond money to support the ukay-ukay vendor who blew the whistle against alleged corruption at the Kidapawan city hall.

KIDAPAWAN CITY-- In his first State of the Nation Address, President Benigno Aquino III said he would push for the immediate passage of a bill protecting whistleblowers. If it happens, this could be the answer to the problems Lally Aniñon is facing for having exposed alleged malpractice among government employees in North Cotabato.

Aniñon is an ukay-ukay (used clothing) seller who alleged employees of the City Agriculture Office in Kidapawan were in the business of collecting illegal fees from roadside sellers like her. After her claims were broadcast on local radio here, City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco ordered the immediate turn-over of the collected amounts to the City Treasury.

PhP 150,000 (USD 3,333) was subsequently paid in to government coffers on the order of the mayor, but Aniñon and local corruption groups estimate the actual amount collected to be up to 10 times that based on the length of time the practice went on before being challenged.

Aniñon first made her claims about corruption on DXCA Charm Radio on January 26 this year and subsequently filed a complaint before the regional Ombudsman against city employees Eufrocenia Marcos and her colleague Emeliana Beltran.

But her complaint signalled the beginning of a counter case against her as Marcos and Beltran filed two suits of libel against Aniñon.

Irregularities

According to Aniñon, she felt something was wrong with the way some government employees were collecting fees from small vendors like her. "We are given only scratch paper as proof of payment," she told the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project.

She claimed she paid PhP 12,000 (USD 267) in rent for a display area along the national highway. "I had no choice otherwise I would not be allowed to sell my goods during the town fiesta," she said.

On top of not receiving an official receipt, Aniñon maintains the fee was much higher than the usual PhP 800 to PhP 1,000 fees (USD 18 to 22) she says she pays for a similar location in nearby towns. Local government officers there always provided her with official receipts, she said.

Aniñon claims that some sellers offer incentives to collecting officers to make sure they get the most strategic display areas. Referred to in the trade here as Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs, these can be offers of cash, goods or anything else that might keep the collecting officer happy.

City employees’ response

In a radio interview, city employees Marcos and colleague Beltran admitted they collected money from ukay-ukay vendors –but said they were just following orders from the mayor who serves as the Chair of the Fiesta Committee.

In his affidavit before the Ombudsman, Mayor Gantuangco defended the action of his staff saying the collected funds do not belong to the public since activities during fiesta time are sponsored by private individuals.

The funds were private in nature, it was argued.

But in an earlier statement aired on Charm Radio, Gantuangco said that the fees collected should be deposited at the City Treasury.

In her reply affidavit, Aniñon maintained that the funds belonged to the public: "How could income derived from a public area such as public roads and highways be considered private?" she argued.

She added that the two women collected funds during office hours of their work as government-paid employees.

The graft case against Marcos and her colleague was filed in February 2010 but remains unresolved as of date. The libel cases were filed in March and the City Prosecution Office submitted them before the Regional Trial Court Branch 23. The prosecutor who took on the cases against Aniñon also serves as the City Legal Counsel.

Threats

Aniñon claims she has received death threats through her cell phone and has had to quit the ukay-ukay business because of her speaking out. The pressure has also taken a toll on her health and reportedly caused a miscarriage.

The local anti-corruption watchdog the Watchful Advocates for Transparent Clean and Honest Governance in Kidapawan (WATCH Kidapawan) have saluted Aniñon's decision to speak out. WATCH Kidapawan was recently established with the support of the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project.

To help raise money for her bail bond in the libel complaint, a fund-raising drive dubbed Piso Para sa Ukay-Ukay Scam Whistleblower (A Peso for the Ukay-Ukay Scam Whistleblower) was launched simultaneously by WATCH Kidapawan in three competing radio stations: DXCA Charm Radio, DXND and Radyo Ukay. The City Prosecution Office recommended a PhP 20,000 (USD 444) bail bond for Aniñon's temporary liberty while the case undergoes full blown trial.

Professor Vilma Gonzales, WATCH Kidapawan secretary general said the group supports Aniñon's crusade against alleged corruption. "We should not abandon Lally in this very critical moment of her life. She merely protected the public fund and what she did is for the good of everybody."

Gonzales believes the libel case was filed to silence and intimidate her. "Before Aniñon went on air, we heard another vendor making far worse allegations about city employees and there were many harsh words against them from some radio commentators – so why single out Lally?

“Is it because she had a sense of public spirit and duty to file the case before the Ombudsman? If so, this is not fair."

At the time of writing, WATCH Kidapawan is estimated to have collected PhP 10, 000 (USD 222) or half of the needed bail bond. Donation boxes will be opened on Friday August 6 in front of the City Hall with the funds collected going to her bail bond, Gonzales said.

Aniñon meantime is appealing for public support: "I am just an ordinary ukay-ukay vendor who lives in a hand-to-mouth existence. Why would I be fabricating stories against high-ranking officials? Why would I want those kind of problems?"

Mrs. Marcos, the city employee, admitted she collected from vendors but denied demanding excessive and undue fees. She added that the practice of issuing a very basic receipt is a long-time tradition in the city and wondered why the complaint ever arose.

Mrs. Beltran in her affidavit said she's a victim of "defamatory accusations" motivated by the vendor’s “hatred” and a desire for revenge after she failed to get a display area. Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project

(The author is the program director of DXCA Charm Radio and a member of WATCH Kidapawan.)

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