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A total of 301 barangay officials are facing criminal charges over Social Amelioration Program (SAP) anomalies after the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) completed their investigation and case-build up against them, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday.

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the DILG and PNP will not stop on running after corrupt local government and barangay officials.

“(Interior and Local Government) Secretary (Eduardo) Año has personally directed the PNP to ensure that cases are filed so that these people will be punished,” Malaya said.

Malaya said the 301 barangay officials facing criminal cases as of June 2 is the latest figure reported to the DILG. People should expect the filing of more criminal cases in the coming days while 76 more are under case buildup.

He added a total of 381 complainants went to the PNP-CIDG and its regional field units to give statements regarding the corrupt practices of their barangay officials in the SAP distribution.

Based on the latest CIDG report, a huge chunk of those facing criminal cases were barangay captains and councilors.

Barangay secretaries, health workers, treasurers, SK chairman and even officials and employees of the LGUs have also been charged with criminal cases.

Meanwhile, 125 civilian co-conspirators have also been filed with criminal cases.

All were charged with violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, and Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases.

Malaya said as the 2nd tranche of SAP financial assistance is set to be distributed to the poorest of the poor, the DILG with the PNP will continue to accept complaints and investigate these reports.

“We encourage our kababayans to report this kind of anomalies,” he said.

“A huge part of this success is because of your courage and bravery to report these corrupt officials,” he added. Ella Dionisio/DMS