(Eagle News)–Administrative charges have been filed against two municipal mayors for their failure to remove road obstructions.
In a statement, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said charged for gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct were Boliney, Abra mayor Benido Balao-as and Motiong, Samar mayor Renato Cabael.
The charges were filed before the Ombudsman.
“We meant it when we said that cases will be filed against negligent local executives,” Año said.
According to Año, the agency’s validating team in Motiong found that nine roads in the area have illegally-parked vehicles, barangay structures and store encroachments, among others.
Boliney, on the other hand, did not present an inventory of the provincial, municipal and barangay roads in their area.
A provincial road was also found to have extended canopies as obstructions.
“The municipalities of Motiong and Boliney obtained a total score of not more than 50 points in the indicators set by the DILG. Such score translated to their glaring failure to follow the rule of law that public streets are for public use,” Año said.
“Unless local chief executives get their acts together and take the President’s instructions to clear roads seriously, they will be held accountable and face charges,” he added.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government’s clearing operations were intensified after a directive from President Rodrigo Duterte in his last State of the Nation Address.
Duterte then called on local government units to give the roads back to the public.
