Manila Mayor Isko Moreno. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said Friday he will not be asking for an apology from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for its “inadvertent re-issuance” of a show-cause order against him.
“I am no angel… I’m no ‘holy,’ marami na ‘kong dapa sa buhay, marami na rin akong masasakit na salita narinig sa buhay simula nung bata pa ako,” Moreno said in an interview on ANC when ask if he is expecting the DILG to apologize for the error.
(I am no angel… I’m not a holier-than-thou. I’ve fallen many times in my life, I’ve also heard many hurtful things since I was young.)
“Kaya sa akin para lang ano ‘yan, pumasok sa kabilang tenga. It is not up for me to ask (for an apology). Kanya-kanya tayo ng karakter sa buhay. Someday magkikita kita rin tayo sa finals,” he added.
(That’s why for me, it’s like, it comes into one ear and goes out the other. It is not up to me to ask. We have different characters. Someday we’ll see each other in the finals.)
Earlier in the day, the DILG withdrew its show-cause order against Moreno for the city government’s inadequate anti-illegal drugs campaign in 2018.
Moreno became Manila mayor in 2019, succeeding former President Joseph Estrada.
Based on the memorandum issued by Interior Undersecretary Ricojudge Janvier Echiverri, the show-cause order was first transmitted to the Manila city government in 2019 for its failed mark in the Anti-Drug Abuse Council audit for 2018.
‘Smokescreen’
Moreno confirmed this in his interview, saying the same show-cause order was issued to him “a few months” after he sat as mayor.
“Hindi siya actually bago [This is not new], it’s the same. Now, it only proves that we are going nowhere with this pandemic if this simple document, simple communication, it’s going out [from] their offices…’di naman siguro maglalakad mag-isa,” he said.
“But anyway, that’s water under the bridge, we continue to focus, and we don’t want to be disturbed by smokescreen,” he added.