DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos said on Tuesday that they did not investigate allegations of abandonment by Mayor Sebastian Duterte while Davao City was flooded.
“Ito po ay walang katotohanan as far as DILG is concerned,” Abalos posted on Facebook along with a screenshot from the news report.
The article was posted on the news provider’s website Tuesday morning and stated, “Plano ng DILG na pagpapaliwanagin si Baste kung bakit wala ito sa kanyang nasasakupan o pwesto habang binabaha ang kanyang mga kababayan.”
The news caused a stir in the city council. The article is still up on the provider’s website as of this writing.
Councilor Pilar Braga found the move “petty” and could be “‘politically motivated” given it is an insufficient ground for it.
“The mayor or city administrators do not take a long time away, maybe 2–3 days makabalik na, and I’m sure when the mayor goes out of town, he leaves someone to be the officer in charge,” Braga told reporters in a sideline interview after Tuesday’s regular session adjourned.
She said they back Duterte “has not done anything wrong” and is “working hard” for the city.
“If he neglected the Davaoeños, kita pa dapat unang-una mag reklamo, but no,” she added.
When asked to react on the issue during the Aprubado sa Konseho (ASK) on Tuesday, Councilor Wilberto Al-ag said that “the mayor should explain himself” if there was truth to the news item.
Al-ag later retracted his statement after the ASK media forum, saying the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office typically takes charge when the city is flooded.
The mayor was in Tacloban City, Leyte, along with former President Rodrigo Duterte, when a flood hit the Toril district in the city on Sunday. He was reportedly on an official leave.
