SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Ombudsman has dismissed 50 barangays officials here from the service for various offenses, Filipinas Baclayen, regional legal officer of the Department of the Interior and Local Government here, said Friday.
Baclayen said that aside from graft and corruption, the local officials were found guilty of neglect of duty and misconduct, which caused their dismissal from service, apart from suspensions and fines.
Barangay councilmen and tanod (barangay police) members were also among the dismissed, she added.
The barangay officials came from various villages in Central Luzon, but none from Aurora province, Baclayen added.
The dismissals have triggered “very enterprising people” to offer their services to the barangay officials “to retain their position or to prevent their removal from office for a fee,” she noted.
However, this kind of operation was already neutralized by the DILG in the region “through a massive information drive and warnings from the office of Interior Secretary Mike Sueno,” Baclayen said.