Probe on officials who defied travel ban wraps up

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government is wrapping up the investigation on local officials who violated the foreign travel ban ordered for the disaster preparedness efforts for Super Typhoon Uwan, with cases soon to be filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“It’s nearly complete so we will file the corresponding cases with the ombudsman against those who violated (the foreign travel ban),” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a chance interview at Camp Crame yesterday.

Remulla said the cases that could be filed are abandonment of duty, gross neglect and insubordination. He said there were about 24 officials who traveled out of the country during the ban from Nov. 9 to 15, subject to investigation.

Asked if Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III was among the officials under investigation, Remulla said Albano had been cleared, as he had flown to Germany for an agricultural fair before the announcement of the foreign travel ban.

“I saw his (travel) records, his departure flight was on the 8th (of November), the ban was (on November) 9th,” Remulla said.

He said that Albano was only guilty of his ill-advised sense of humor when the local executive told critics of his flight to Germany to “chill.”

“According to the permits, his trip was before the travel ban and he tried to return as soon as possible when he was there already and learned of the ban,” Remulla said.

The DILG chief said he will enforce the punishment for the violators and will not let politics deter him from doing so.

“The nice thing about being secretary, you’re not political. So, whoever needs to be punished, we will punish them,” Remulla said in Filipino.

He noted, however, that he could not give a specific date for the filing of charges.

Damage

As accountability proceedings move forward, government agencies and humanitarian groups continue tallying the casualties and widespread destruction brought by both Uwan and Typhoon Tino.

The combined death toll from the two typhoons has climbed to 297, according to the Office of Civil Defense, with Tino accounting for the vast majority of fatalities.

Cebu recorded the highest number of deaths from Tino, followed by Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, while Uwan left 28 people dead across 10 provinces.

More than 110 people remain missing and over 520 were injured as both weather systems battered areas already grappling with earlier emergencies, including quake-hit communities in Northern Cebu.

The Department of Health (DOH), meanwhile, reported damage to 77 health facilities across affected regions.

Of the 127 facilities that submitted updates, one was destroyed while 76 suffered partial damage, mostly due to roof leaks and flooding.

Despite this, the DOH gave assurance of continued delivery of essential medical services across its network of hospitals, rural health units, barangay health stations and treatment centers.

Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Caraga suffered the heaviest impacts, while Northern Samar and Eastern Samar remain under a state of calamity.

The storm swept through 16 regions already strained by consecutive climate and geophysical shocks, affecting over 5.17 million people and severely disrupting homes, schools and health services.

Children bore a significant share of Uwan’s impact, with more than 1.7 million affected, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

UNICEF warned that many children now face heightened risks of respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, mental distress, malnutrition and disrupted learning.

More than 15,000 classrooms were damaged, while over 900 public schools served as evacuation centers, depriving many children of safe spaces to learn and play. — Rhodina Villanueva, Pia Lee-Brago