DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A City Councilor is calling on the public to report instances of corruption committed by officials and employees of local or national government offices.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang made the statement on Monday during a press conference at the SM Davao. “I am urging the public to report any corruption committed by our employees of the city,” he said.
Dayanghirang added that the city may be losing hundreds of millions of pesos because of corruption. He noted that the city has 45,000 accounts of business permits, and the massive development where assessment is made.
Although he did not present evidence, the councilor said corruption may be prevalent in the City Treasurer’s as well as the Assessor’s Office.
“From the Treasurer or from the assessors on the matter of assessment of properties, if you think they are trying to play something to make money out of it, you report it. I can explain some but I want to have an accurate figure,” he said.
According to Dayanghirang, the public should be vigilant and not be afraid to report any irregularities including “delay of documents, business permits, trying to do some assessment beyond what is right.”
“If you think that (you are witnessing corruption), please report it to the mayor and we will act on it immediately. Please report it to the Office of the City Mayor or to me. Do not be afraid. We will run after them,” he committed.
“I know that a lot of people are afraid to expose them. Tell us. (Report to us) in any manner because we will run after them,” he added. “Expose it. Sometimes there are people who take advantage. People are just afraid to expose them because they might be at risk.”
Apart from officials and employees of local and national government agencies, Dayanghirang also suggested that corruption could also be occurring among developers and in the regulatory bodies.
