By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
THE president of an organization of senior citizens has complained about the way the City Social Services and Development office has treated him and other elderly people before a city council committee.
Arthuro Barsopia, president of the Scions Canitoan Senior Citizens Association Inc., also asked the Commission on Audit to look into the way CSWD has been spending funds intended for senior citizens.
In his complaint submitted to the city council’s senior citizens committee, Barsopia complained about how CSWD organized the celebration of the Senior Citizens Week in October at the Limketkai Atrium that was attended by 130 senior citizens group leaders and about a thousand elders.
He claimed some participants did not receive their food packs on time.
Barsopia said the event started “okey” until lunch time. “Some senior citizens received their food, and some received their food for (sic) almost 3 in the afternoon.”
He said some of the participants went home hungry and disappointed.
Barsopia said he brought the problem to the attention of organizers, and when he took the microphone, one Jessie Legaspi grabbed it from him, called him a troublemaker, and called the police.
Barsopia has another beef with city hall.
In his five-page complaint, he said he requested city hall for chairs in July 7, 2016 for senior citizens in his barangay.
Barsopia said a CSWD employee identified as Clarita Tonido disrespected him when he inquired about his request to the Office of the City Mayor.
He alleged that Tonido yelled: “There is no chair! If you want, you can bring all the chairs you see inside this office (CSWD).”
Barsopia said people in the CSWD then looked at him while laughing.
He said he felt insulted. “I can’t believe that such government employee can say that in (sic) a senior citizen…”
Barsopia then accused the CSWD chief, Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr., of allegedly diverting the approved budget for senior citizens to “some other unwarranted expenses.”
He did not elaborate his allegation except to state that he secured a copy of CSWD’s program of work and was “amazed” to see the P27-million budget intended for senior citizens.
Barsopia also brought the matter to the attention of the Commission on Audut and requested it to forward it to Malacañang in the hope that the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission would investigate.
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