DILG bans local execs from traveling during disasters

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

To make sure that local government officials will be present in their communities during disasters, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recalled all travel authorities and leaves of absence of officials from affected localities during emergencies or typhoons.

In a memorandum dated Jan. 4, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered that all approved travel authorities or leaves of absence of local officials in case of a natural or man-made disaster or calamities be revoked by the DILG.

“As we are guided by law, we will exercise it to its full extent to ensure that local chief executives are where they are expected to be in times of disaster or calamities,” DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement Thursday.

On Monday, the DILG has endorsed to the Office of the Ombudsman administrative cases against five Northern Luzon mayors who were absent from their posts during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong in Sept. 2018. The DILG said their excuses on their absence were found “inadequate” and “unjustified.”

Año admonished six others after an investigation by the DILG. /cbb