While there were ghost projects that led to the flood control fiasco, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla noted there were phantom officials who did not make their presence felt during the days that disaster struck their provinces.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is looking into the foreign trips taken by 24 local officials, mostly mayors, amid the onslaught of super typhoon “Uwan.”

Remulla said the 24 could face charges of gross negligence, gross insubordination, and abandonment of post for leaving the country despite a travel ban imposed ahead of the onslaught of typhoons “Tino” and “Uwan.”

“The 24 local chief executives who left are now under investigation. Despite the directive, they left for aboard from 9 to 15 November,” Remulla said in a radio interview.

On 8 November, Remulla ordered all elective and appointive local officials to cancel and suspend foreign travel from 9 to 15 November to ensure their presence in their respective areas during ongoing pre-disaster preparations, response, and recovery operations.

“It is their moral duty to be cognizant of the approaching calamities. All of us who watch the news, all of us who read the newspapers, all of us who see it on the internet, we know what is coming,” Remulla said.

Abandonment of duty

According to Remulla, these actions of the local officials may be considered gross insubordination, abandonment of duty, among others.

Under Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of the Philippines, governors, mayors, and members of local councils are mandated to lead disaster relief and aid efforts in their respective jurisdictions.

RA 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, underscores that local officials are liable for organizing and supervising their local disaster risk reduction and management offices during calamities.

The law mandates that those found to have committed a dereliction of duty may face a fine of P50,000 to P500,000 and may be imprisoned for six to 12 years.

In more serious cases, officials who will be found liable for the said offense may be perpetually disqualified from the government service.

Nine officials, including eight mayors and a Sangguniang Panlalawigan member in Cebu province, had scheduled foreign trips to the United Kingdom for November. Most of them were scheduled to depart on 1 November.

Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro received and signed the documents of the officials in September.

While all nine officials received authority to travel from the governor, four did not obtain an approved foreign travel authority from the DILG’s portal. One of the nine officials canceled his foreign trip.

Remulla noted that municipal mayors and councilors need to get permission from the DILG for their foreign travels.

He pointed out there are clear-cut rules on the matter of the local officials who had left the country before the DILG ordered the cancellation of their foreign trips.

“That’s what they need to explain because those are clear-cut guidelines. If they asked the local DILG — they probably didn’t — they would have been told the requirements,” the Interior Secretary explained.

Remulla, however, did not mention the trip taken by DILG Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs Maria Liavel Badillo-Crisostomo, who posted her dance on TikTok while in Vietnam as the typhoons ravaged the country.

Crisostomo was bashed on social media for her actions.