Mayor urged to answer complaint

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

CITY Councilor Edgar Cabanlas has urged Mayor Vicente Emano to answer the administrative complaint filed against him by members of Save CDO Now Movement as ordered by Malacañang.

Cabanlas, an opposition councilor, said Emano should answer the complaint to shed light and explain what really happened.

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In an order dated January 18, signed by Discipline Office Undersecretary Ronaldo A. Geron, Malacañang directed Emano to submit his answer within 15 days on the complaints filed by Raul Ramon S. Roa, Teodulfo E. Lao, Celestino B. Ocio III, Enrico D. Salcedo and Vincent O. Tero for alleged gross negligence and dereliction of duty.

Malacañang also ordered Emano to furnish the complainants a copy of his answer.

Cabanlas said Emano should explain whether he had done the right move in so far as preventive measures and disaster preparation are concerned.

“It’s good to know that Malacañang has acted on the administrative complaint filed against the mayor,” he said.

In their complaint, Roa and company, who are all residents of Cagayan de Oro and victims of Tropical Storm Sendong, claimed that Emano failed to implement the provisions of Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.

Among other issues, they said Emano ignored the geo-hazard map and warning issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which resulted to the death of thousands of residents in Cagayan de Oro.

Related to this, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) denied having served Malacañang’s order to Emano.

Lawyer Foster Anayron of DILG-Northern Mindanao told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro that their office has not received any order directly from Malacañang or from higher agencies.

He, however, admitted that the DILG has been furnished a copy of the said order from Malacañang.

“I don’t know if the mayor already received this order but since we have been copy furnished, I assumed he received it already. I don’t know but the process will go on to give him the chance to answer,” Anayron said.

Anayron stressed that in cases like this, particularly if the involved officials belong to highly urbanized city, it is the Office of the President that will implement its order directly to the respondents.

“I believed that Malacañang served directly its order to Emano for him to answer the complaint,” he said.

Emano denied having received the order but said he will answer the complaint.

The members of Save CDO Movement have been doing a massive signature campaign for a recall election in Cagayan de Oro.

The movement wants to oust Emano for his failure to protect the residents from the deadly calamity.

However, Cabanlas said if there is a recall election, it should involve all elected officials, not only the mayor.

As of February 1, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said at least 384,431 individuals were affected by “Sendong” in 190 barangays of four cities and 13 municipalities of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon.