24 local officials face admin raps

MANILA, Philippines — Twenty-four local government officials are facing administrative sanctions after they defied a travel ban imposed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the officials, mostly mayors, left the country despite his directive to stay with their constituents and spearhead disaster preparedness and relief operations in their areas of jurisdiction ahead of Super Typhoon Uwan’s arrival.

Despite the travel ban from Nov. 9 to 15, Remulla said the local officials went abroad.

If they had a conscience, the DILG chief said the officials should have opted to stay in the country.

“That’s what they need to explain, because those are clear-cut guidelines,” he said over radio dzBB yesterday.

Remulla said the officials could be held liable for gross insubordination and abandonment of duty for leaving their constituents to suffer the typhoon’s wrath.

“It is their moral duty to be cognizant of the approaching calamity,” he said.

Neophyte Mayor Nico Dotillos of Borbon town, meanwhile, has gone viral on social media for being the only mayor in the typhoon-battered northern part of Cebu who canceled a trip to London ahead of Tino’s onslaught.

Remulla earlier said local chief executives must be physically present during all phases of disaster management under the Local Government Code and Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act.

Remulla said Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III, who was criticized by the public for being on an official business trip in Germany when Uwan hit his province, is not included in the list of officials under investigation.

Albano was criticized by the public after he urged constituents “to just chill” as the typhoon approached the country.

According to Remulla, Albano informed him of his trip and left on Nov. 8, a day before he issued his travel ban.

Uwan death toll now 27

With two additional fatalities, the number of reported deaths due to Super Typhoon Uwan climbed to 27 yesterday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 19 of the casualties are from the Cordillera Administrative Region.

They include nine reported deaths in Ifugao, four in Benguet and three each in Mountain Province and the province of Kalinga.

The death toll also includes three in Nueva Vizcaya and one each in the provinces of Catanduanes, Capiz, Samar, Sulu, along with one more from a still unknown province.

As of yesterday, two persons have been reported missing in Kalinga while the number of injured persons from various provinces has reached 36.

The NDRRMC said Super Typhoon Uwan affected a total of 3,596,174 people from various areas in Luzon, the Visayas and even Mindanao.

Of the number, some 623,310 people are being served in 9,014 different evacuation centers across the country.

Estimated cost of damage to infrastructure has so far reached more than P126.5 million while estimated cost of damage to agriculture is still being assessed.

112 still missing

Over a week after Typhoon Tino’s onslaught brought heavy rains, massive flooding and landslides in the Visayas and Mindanao, 112 people remain missing in three provinces.

According to the NDRRMC, 57 of those yet to be found are from Cebu, 50 are from Negros Occidental and five from Negros Oriental.

As of yesterday, the official number of reported deaths stands at 232 with Cebu registering the highest fatalities at 150 followed by Negros Occidental with 42 and Negros Oriental with 21.

ICI turns to Cebu

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure is turning its focus on flood control projects in Cebu following Tino’s onslaught last week.

ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin said flood works investigators are targeting to arrive in the province on Sunday.

“We will go to central Cebu, such as Cebu City and Mandaue City – those that are badly affected,” Azurin told reporters yesterday.

Meanwhile, Uwan yesterday reentered the Philippine area of responsibility and is now approaching southern Taiwan, the state weather bureau said.

Uwan is forecast to move toward the Ryukyu Islands in Japan today and weaken due to land interaction and unfavorable conditions.

Batanes is under tropical cyclone wind signal No. 1.

— Emmanuel Tupas, Michael Punongbayan, EJ Macababbad, Christine Boton