DILG to councilors: Be responsible, attend session

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Interior and Local Government warns government officials on the responsibilities they leave behind when their jobs are hampered by political differences.

This after Dumanjug municipal officials almost ended their session on Tuesday in a brawl, over six months of not meeting due to the lack of a quorum.

DILG provincial director Jerome Gonzales stressed that government officials should not need to be reminded of their responsibilities since they already know that as a municipal councilor, part of their job is to attend regular sessions to discuss concerns of their jurisdiction.  

Gonzales said that based on the law, the presiding officer, in this case the vice mayor, has the right to have the councilors who do not attend sessions “arrested” by police officers and brought to the session hall to force them to attend the session.

Gonzales explained that this is part of the powers of the presiding officer to ensure that there is a quorum. He said that the councilors who are just in the area but refuse to attend the session can be “arrested.”

However, Gonzales said that the officials should not wait for an “arrest” to happen.

“Maikog pud ta no na ato gud nang trabaho unya magpapugos pa jud ta og attend,” Gonzales said, adding that in the case of Dumanjug, they sent a letter to the municipality recently reminding the town on its lapses in implementing a number of projects.

Gonzales said that the municipal DILG officer assigned in Dumanjug has expressed concern on the missed sessions and has constantly been reminding the municipal officials to conduct the regular sessions.

The DILG official explained that the agency can only remind and monitor the activities of the local government units since it does not have adjudicatory powers to investigate and intervene.

In this case, he said if a party would want to complain on the lack of services the municipal government is rendering, Gonzales said the complaint should be coursed through the Provincial Board which has the quasi-judicial powers.

The PB would then conduct due process and later provide the sanctions if deemed needed. 

Based on Section 50 of the Local Government Code, members with absences without justifiable cause for four consecutive sessions may be censured, reprimanded, or excluded from the session, suspended for not more than 60 days, or expelled.

Gonzales stressed that the municipal council of Dumanjug should be reminded of the responsibilities they are leaving behind caused by the lack of regular sessions.

“Mo-suffer dinha ang atong programs ug projects sa LGU,” he said.

Dumanjug’s political scenario has been controversial with its top two chief executives, Mayor Nelson Garcia and Vice Mayor Gica, filing counts of cases against each other for different charges.

Garcia is a member of One Cebu Party which is affiliated with the United Nationalist Alliance while Gica is a member of the administration’s Liberal Party. The members of the municipal council also belong to the two parties. 

According to Gonzales, the political affiliations should not prevent the LGU from providing services, especially basic services.

“There’s nothing wrong if nagbangi mo sa prinsipyo, nagbangi mo sa mga alliances. But when it comes to public service, dili unta mapagan ang programs, labi na basic services. At the end of the day, ang mga katawhan ang maglisod ana,” Gonzales said. (FREEMAN)