Lim says not interested to be next DILG chief

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim on Friday said he was not interested to take the place of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and called such talk as “highly  unethical”  and “in a very bad taste.”

“Pati pangalan ko dinadamay, bakit kelan ba ako nagsabi na interesado `ko diyan? (Even  myname is being dragged into it? Why? When did I say that I am interested?” Lim said in a statement.

“Siguro `yung mga kalaban ko sa politika gusto na maging interesado ako para wala nang hadlang sa kanila pero (Maybe my political opponents want me to take that position so no one will not get in their way but) sorry, I intend to serve Manila for as long as Manilans would like me to,” he added.

Besides,  Lim said, it was “highly unethical and in a very bad taste” to even discuss who should be the next  chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government at a time when the nation was still grieving the loss of  Robredo, whom he described as  an “ideal public officer.”

Lim’s name was mentioned as one of those allegedly being considered to take the  DILG post.

Robredo and the pilots of a Piper Seneca plane were killed when the plane crashed  the waters off Masbate  island  last August 18.  Robredo’s aide, June Paolo Abrazado, was the lone  survivor  in the crash.

Pamarisan sana ang uri ng `good governance’ na ibinigay niya sa bayan –  isang paglilingkod na wagas, tapat at malinis,” Lim said of Robredo.