Gov. Arthur Yap turns the table around as he questioned why it took the Loboc mayor several weeks to reveal that the rice supply provided by the provincial government allegedly is emitting foul odor.
The governor, on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, reacted to the insinuations that the rice supply given to the displaced tourism workers of Loboc emits a foul smell. He aired his reaction in a radio interview over the provincial government-produced radio program aired over dyTR and simulcast over other radio stations in the province.
It was revealed that the rice supply from the province was delivered to the local government unit (LGU) of Loboc on Oct. 16, 2020.
However, it was only after several weeks that the issue surfaced stating that the rice supplies have foul smell.
He asked why the rice supplies delivered by the provincial government to Loboc last month remained in storage and were not distributed to the intended beneficiaries in a timely manner.
As this developed, the governor ordered an audit regarding the distribution of rice support given to displaced tourism workers in Loboc.
The governor quipped that it should not come as a surprise that there are rice supplies that emit foul smell because the rice stocks have been kept in storage for more than a month as opposed to the intent, which is to distribute the stuff to the beneficiaries at the earliest possible time.
“Ang pangutana, ngano man hangtud karon wala pa na distribute (ang rice),” the governor said during the radio interview.
Moreover, the governor said, ”Ang angay ng imbestigahan dile ang atong rice sa provincial government, bali sa atong nahibaw-an, nganong hangtud karon wala (pa) madistribute ang rice sa Loboc.”
The provincial government procured rice from the National Food Authority to be distributed to affected tourism industry workers. Each affected worker is supposed to get 10 kilos of rice each.
The issue stems from the statement made by Loboc mayor Leon Calipusan expressing his disappointment over the alleged foul smell of the rice supply provided by the provincial government and distributed to the displaced workers in the tourism industry who reside in the said town.
The Loboc mayor said that he felt “insulted” with the allocation of the alleged foul-smelling rice coming from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
According to reports, Calipusan said that there are around 1,000 tourism workers who reside in Loboc town and are known to be displaced as the tourism sector in the province has been badly hit by the pandemic.