Using gov’t aid, Cebu’s poor foot the bill for crumbling infrastructure

CEBU, Philippines – It was Olango Island residents Criselda and Maria’s understanding that the P5,000 they received from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program was for their needs amid an oil crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

The residents — who asked to use pseudonyms for their safety — told Rappler on Monday, April 13, that the aid payouts took place on Monday, April 6, at the Mini Hoopsdome of the Lapu-Lapu Extension City Hall in Olango. 

A day after, on Tuesday morning, April 7, they gave P3,000 out of the P5,000 aid to officials who visited their houses in Barangay Talima to collect the cash assistance.

“They said that there was an agreement. That is why we just gave it because if we didn’t, we would be blacklisted,” Criselda said.

“If there is any aid next time, [the residents] would not be listed. They would not receive anything since they didn’t give the P3,000,” Maria added.

The agreement, according to them, was for a local road development project in their village — one that would be funded using contributions from the community.

Controversial project

The issue went viral on social media after Father Richard Rama, parish priest of the Saint Augustine Parish Church in Olango Island, said in a video posted on Juander Radyo Cebu’s social media page on April 8, that up to P3,800 was taken from AICS recipients for what locals referred to as Bayanihan projects.

On Friday, April 10, Lapu-Lapu City Councilor Rufo Bering, in a livestreamed video on Facebook, said residents were asked to voluntarily donate money for the development of roads and other needed infrastructure in their respective villages.

Bering said in an interview with Rappler on the same day, that the Bayanihan projects are the brainchild of former Lapu-Lapu City mayor and incumbent District Representative Junard Chan when he was still the captain of Barangay Pajo in Lapu-Lapu City.

“What [Chan] did was to organize residents in the area and he would ask them if they could help each other, contribute any amount [for projects], and he would handle the remaining amount,” the city councilor said.

Since 2020, Bering said, barangays under the Lapu-Lapu City government have conducted more than 200 Bayanihan projects. 

RECURRING ISSUE. A screenshot taken on April 14, 2026 of the Lapu-Lapu City Public Information Office’s press release dated March 20, 2025. It says then-Lapu-Lapu City mayor Junard Chan denied claims that he instructed government aid recipients to use cash assistance for the development of community roads. Screenshot from Lapu-Lapu City Public Information Office’s Facebook page

The city councilor, who Chan appointed as the chairperson of the Bayanihan projects, clarified that the projects are initiated and implemented by residents, and that barangay and city officials provide technical guidance and contribute amounts from their own pockets.

Bering stressed that the projects were intended to address longstanding issues of inaccessible roads while respecting the ownership of individuals with private lots that were on the said roads.

“The government cannot spend public funds on that because that would be technical malversation. You cannot spend [taxpayers’] money on a private lot,” the councilor added.

Legally challenging

For many residents in the barangays of Olango and Mactan Island that are under the jurisdiction of the Lapu-Lapu City government, the roads represent safer streets, better access for ambulances, and pathways for fisherfolk to bring harvests to markets.

However, the development of these roads has been left to residents as the local government faces legal and financial challenges in expropriating lots for public use.

“The basic rule is that you expropriate [property] on the basis that it’s for a public purpose but there has to be a budget for it. There has to be funds for both the road and the right of way,” lawyer and former Ateneo School of Government dean Tony La Viña told Rappler on Tuesday, April 14.

Article 3, Section 9 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.

La Viña said that if the government initiates an expropriation of a private property, it would entail hefty costs, including, but not limited to, the purchase of the private lot at fair market value and the possibility of taking private lot owners to court if they refuse to sell their land.

The lawyer said private citizens are allowed to agree among themselves to develop roads where privately-owned lots are involved — similar to what is done in subdivisions.

In the case of the Bayanihan projects, Bering told Rappler that residents and private lot owners set their own terms on the use of the land where a road would be developed.

However, Nigel Paul Villarete, former Cebu City administrator and ex-infrastructure chief of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), told Rappler on Tuesday, April 14, that when a project like a concrete road is implemented (it’s considered to have lasting value), it may have to be acquired later on.

“Sooner or later, the permanence has to be established by procuring the land to become the property of the government,” Villarete said.

Rocky roads

Calawisan resident Grace Avenido told Rappler on April 9 that she refused to give P4,000 of the P5,000 assistance from the DSWD’s AICS distributions on March 3. The following day, March 4, their community’s urban poor association visited their family’s residence to ask them to contribute for a Bayanihan project.

“It was like we had debts to pay. Insults were thrown at us because we took too long to give the money,” Avenido said.

Avenido added that after refusing to surrender the cash aid, she was removed from the Calawisan Urban Poor Association (CALAUPA).

CALAUPA president Dory Libres told Rappler on Tuesday, April 14, that their community needed to raise more than P200,000 to develop a road in their barangay.

“I couldn’t help using cuss words. I was pressured because others had already given their share but this person refused,” Libres admitted.

PROOF. A photo of the road development project led by the Calawisan Urban Poor Association (CALAUPA) shows a portion of a rehabilitated road in Sitio Zone Kasag, Barangay Calawisan Lapu-Lapu City. Photo by CALAUPA President Dory Libres

The CALAUPA president clarified that he would still have to seek approval for Avenido’s removal from their organization’s board of directors due to her refusal to contribute. Despite what happened, Libres gave assurances that Avenido would still be able to receive crisis aid in the future if the latter sought assistance from DSWD.

Like Avenido, Olango residents Criselda and Maria said that they feared being removed from the master list of Barangay Talima residents who are eligible for AICS. 

In an interview with Rappler on Monday, April 13, Talima barangay captain Jovelito Beñanel denied claims that barangay officials forced residents to give their cash aid for a Bayanihan project.

“We [barangay officials] don’t handle the money. It is only the residents and even until now, they’re working on the road on their own,” Beñanel said.

Beñanel clarified that the collection of the contributions for the Bayanihan project were only managed by leaders of the local urban poor association. 

DSWD Central Visayas regional director Shalaine Marie Lucero told Rappler on April 9 that the agency has sent a team to investigate the issue.

After the trauma that Olango residents Criselda and Maria endured, the pair said that they would have still contributed money for the Bayanihan projects if they weren’t forced to do so.

“It would have been okay if it was just P500 or P1,000 but P3,000? That would have been a huge help already for our families,” Maria said. – Rappler.com

Quotes translated to English for brevity.