Res Gestae
Service fee at NCIP?!?
"She may have been a victim of extortion." This, a friend at the Regional Office of National Commission for Indigenous People said when I verified whether their office asks for a "service fee" as requirement in membership application to an indigenous community. She said the services of NCIP are free of charge. That declaration affirmed my doubt on the transaction of a colleague with one of the NCIP personnel recently.
Here is the background of the inquiry. My officemate sought for membership of her brother with certain indigenous community in the central part of Iloilo province two months ago. And, she was asked to 'shoulder' the needed budget for 'ocular inspection' or 'verification' (whatever it is called) of the said application. Well, she was promised of a refund. When? That she doesn't know. As explained to her by NCIP personnel, the budget for the purpose comes from NCIP Central Office in Manila and its release may take a longer time.
Wanting for an immediate action to her brother's application, she 'gave in' to the proposal. She delivered the P2,000 of the P2,500 being requested from her of the subject NCIP personnel. The transaction was made about 7:00 in the evening. And, it was consummated in a bar somewhere in Jaro, Iloilo City. It was how the NCIP personnel wanted it to happen. The rationale? Well, res ipsa loquitor. The thing (read: fact) speaks for itself.
In no case that reasonable employee will make transactions related to his official functions beyond office hours and outside his office. Neither a reasonable employee will accept 'payment' without issuing an official receipt. This, I am referring to any public employee.
Granting, however, that such procedure is regular, I am in a contention that asking, nay compelling, a client to shoulder outright the expenses (such as in the aforementioned case) for the services, pursuant to the mandate of the office, is tainted with irregularities.
The National Commission for Indigenous People was created pursuant to Republic Act 8371 as the primary government agency that formulates and implements policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and the recognition of their ancestral domains and their rights thereto. Its mandate is to protect and promote the interest and well-being of the Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions.
The NCIP was specially created to safeguard the interests of the sector, whose members are oftentimes subjects of indiscrimination, exploitation and abuse.
This, the government, I believe, has allocated (enough) budget for the said office. Otherwise, the NCIP cannot comply with its obligations.
Hence, I find it farfetched the claim that its operation has to be initially 'subsidized' by clients as the case of my colleague.
If the facts given to me by a colleague were indeed true, I have a strong feeling that illegal activities (read: extortion) at the NCIP (in some of its field offices) have been a lucrative business.
By bringing this issue in public, it is my hope that those who have experienced similar transactions would come out to the open and let their stories be heard.
Remember, corruption as a disease in our society becomes incurable unless we unite and give it a dose of antidote.
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