Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno KING RODRIGUEZ/PPD
THE GOOD they have done outweighs their belonging to political dynasties, contrary to the rules on picking the top 10 governors to be cited by Malacañang for leading the fight against illegal drugs in their respective provinces.
This was Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno’s explanation for the inclusion of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy III on the list of governors to be feted by the Palace as a counterbalance to the numerous local government officials involved in the illegal drugs trade who had been named and those still to be unmasked by President Duterte.
Marcos is the daughter of the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos and elder sister of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who ran for vice president in the May elections but lost. Her mother is current Leyte Rep. Imelda Romualdez-Marcos.
Dy is a scion of Isabela’s most influential political clan.
“These are model leaders, model local executives. The President is not only exposing the bad guys but also the good guys in government,” Sueno told a Palace news briefing on Monday.
Reminded that the Department of the Interior and Local Government screening committee had ruled that members of political dynasties were disqualified from the search, Sueno said: “Maybe they are. But they have proven to be very good administrators and very good governors.”
“Maybe their being members of (political) dynasties was outweighed by their performance as governors,” he said.
Asked if this meant that Marcos and Dy were exempted from the rule, Sueno said: “Not really… but they are well known to be good administrators.”
Aside from their antidrug stance, Sueno said Marcos, Dy and the eight other governors were being cited for promoting transparency in governance and disaster preparedness in their provinces.
He said they introduced policies that “made their provinces competitive when it comes to business.”
The other governors to be cited are Junie Cua of Quirino, Jose Alvarez of Palawan, Eduardo Firmalo of Romblon, Alfredo Marañon of Negros Occidental, Edgardo Chatto of Bohol, Hilario Davide III of Cebu, Daisy Avance-Fuentes of South Cotabato and Ma. Angelica Rosedell Amante-Matba of Agusan del Norte.
In excluding members of political dynasties, the DILG had said: “[T]he notion [is] that they control much of what is going on around them in their locality. Any information deemed detrimental to their image might be suppressed.”
Sueno said the DILG will release next week the names of city and municipal mayors who deserve to be cited for supporting the antidrugs drive.