DILG orders 16 local execs to explain absence during ‘Ompong’ onslaught

Sixteen mayors who allegedly “went missing” during the onslaught of Typhoon “Ompong” have been asked to explain their absence, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Friday.

Nine mayors from Cagayan Valley and seven mayors from the Cordillera Administrative Region were issued show-cause orders, for them to explain their absence at the height of the typhoon, DILG spokesperson Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said.

“The Department has given the said mayors five days from receipt to comment and explain on the matter and inform the DILG on the actions their respective offices have undertaken with regard to the recent calamity that affected their respective areas,” Malaya said in a statement.

Malaya said the show-cause orders, which were signed by DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order and DILG OIC, will be released this Friday.

Malaya assured that the local executives in question will be given due process but should they be found negligent of their duties, the DILG will not hesitate to recommend appropriate sanctions against them.

“Since they are elected public officials, we assure them that they will be given due process but if the investigation comes to the conclusion that they have been negligent or derelict in the performance of their duties, we will not hesitate to recommend appropriate sanctions against them,” he said.

The official pointed out that under the Local Government Code, an elective local official may be disciplined, suspended, or removed from office for gross negligence, dereliction of duty, or misconduct in office.

Local chief executives are the heads of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and are mandated to carry out such emergency measures necessary during and in the aftermath of disasters and calamities, the statement further explained.

In times of calamity, the DILG said it has Oplan Listo protocols that mayors are required to undertake. /muf