Leviste questions Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos’ discriminatory rice distribution

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste had once again criticized Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto concerning her schedule of 10kg rice sacks to barangays within the municipality.

Leviste publicized the supposed list from 21 April that the office of Santos-Recto had created for the dissemination of the relief effort through a post on his Facebook page this Sunday afternoon.

The solon questioned the need for such schedules to be undertaken instead of just having the distribution be conducted in one go for all barangays.

“Bakit kailangan pang hintayin ang schedule ng pagbisita ni Gov. Vilma bago ipamigay ang bigas? Hindi ba pwedeng ipamigay agad, lalo na’t nasa krisis ang ating ekonomiya?” he posited.

(Why the need to wait for the scheduled visit of Gov. Vilma before the distribution of rice sacks? Can’t the relief be distributed immediately, especially since the economy is under crisis?)

He also sought clarification on how the lists were decided, noting that some barangays could have been placed at the latter part of the schedule because she or her son Lucky Manzano may not have won in the said districts in the recent elections.

The barangays of Nasugbu and Taal were also notably slated for 30 June, a date that would have them two months behind the city of Batangas, which received its relief on Friday, 24 April.

Also on Friday, Leviste went to the House of Representatives to file a House Resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to investigate alleged discrimination with the distribution of the subsidies throughout the country.

There, he revealed that 84 barangays were excluded from the “Bawat Barangay Makikinabang” program, which was set to give each barangay throughout the country P200,000 as a subsidy.

Malacanang had since declared that the excluded barangays would be receiving their share of the cash assistance following the incident.

Santos, on the other hand, had remained relatively silent on the matter, merely sharing posts related to the visit of the President during the initial distribution in Batangas.

Liga ng mga Barangay ng Batangas Board Member Fernando Rocafort, on the other hand, claimed that Leviste’s statements on the matter were untrue, stating that it was actually the solon himself who prevented his barangay captains from participating in the distribution of the P200,000.

“Ako po ay nakiki-usap na sana po huwag ipitin o gamitin sa pamumulitika ang mga kapwa kong kapitan,” Rocafort said in a Facebook post.

(I am begging for my fellow captains to be excluded from being used for any political motives)