(Eagle News) — The Department of the Interior and Local Government is asking sixteen mayors to explain their absence in their areas of jurisdiction during the onslaught of Typhoon “Ompong.”
DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the nine mayors from the Cagayan Valley and seven mayors from the Cordillera Administrative Region will be issued show-cause orders for that purpose.
He said the show-cause orders, signed by the DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order and the officer in charge of the DILG Eduardo Año will be released on Friday, Sept. 21.
“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.
According to Malaya, the mayors “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 according to the Local Government Code, a local official who was elected can be disciplined, suspended or removed from office for gross negligence, misconduct in office or dereliction of duty.
The DILG noted that mayors were the heads of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and were required to implement Oplan Listo protocols when calamities strike.
