Palace assures due process for ‘missing-in-action’ mayors during Ompong onslaught

Malacañang on Thursday vowed due process for the local officials under investigation for allegedly being absent during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong.

Sixteen mayors from the Cagayan Valley Region and the Cordillera Administrative Region are currently under investigation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for apparent neglect of duty.

Reports said that some of the local officials were in Metro Manila when the typhoon lashed northern Luzon over the weekend.

The DILG did not name the local chief executives to avoid trial by publicity.

"They are being accorded their right to due process and decision to be made shortly thereafter," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters.

Roque had said the local officials should be dismissed from the service should the DILG find them guilty of neglect.

Senators Franklin Drilon and Panfilo Lacson also called for accountability on the part of the concerned officials. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News