Anti-graft sessions up in Antique
Barangay, municipal and provincial officials of the Province of Antique are the next audience of Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol and graft investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.
This, as the two-day "Ombudsman Caravan" makes its stop here for a series of public forums, seminar on public accountability and signing of a Pledge of Commitment. The "Pledge" is the Ombudsman's way of reaching out to various local government units in a bid to secure support of the anti-graft body's battle against corruption.
Set on April 3 and 4, the Ombudsman team likewise added in its itinerary a medical and dental mission alongside other government services from participating agencies.
Early on, the Ombudsman in the Visayas got the commitment of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office chiefs.
The "Caravan of Services" though will see partner agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the National Statistics Office (NSO).
First day of the Antique visit will have the meeting and open forum with members of the Antique Provincial Board and municipal mayors here.
The afternoon schedule will kick off with the Public Accountability seminar with barangay officials of San Jose alongside other provincial and municipal officials. A similar open forum was set and signing of similar Pledge of Commitment.
A similar invite was sent out to Antique's socio-civic and religious organizations.
Meantime, residents of Barangay Durog in the Municipality of San Jose will see a medical and dental mission team on the second and last day of the Ombudsman visit. Barangay Durog was identified as beneficiary-barangay by the town's health office following the higher incidence of malnutrition here.