DILG apologizes to Isko, says no politics behind show-cause order

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday apologized to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno after it directed him to explain his predecessor’s alleged failure to meet targets in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Speaking to CNN Philippines, DILG spokesperson and Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the show-cause order issued last July 9 was an “honest mistake.”

“Since there is a mistake that was done, as spokesperson of the DILG, we express our apologies to the mayor of Manila for this erroneous show-cause order,” he said.

Likewise, Malaya said there was no politics behind the issuance of the order against Moreno, a possible presidential candidate for the 2022 elections.

“I would like to assure the public that there is no politics behind this,” he said.

It was DILG Undersecretary for External and Legislative Affairs Ricojudge Janvier Echiverri who issued on July 9 the "order to show cause" to the city government over its poor mark in the 2018 Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC) performance audit.

Moreno, however, was elected mayor in 2019.

Echiverri rectified the error by issuing a memorandum on August 6 stating that the department was withdrawing the show-cause order since the performance audit covered the administration of former Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB on Friday, Moreno said he was not keen on taking legal action against the DILG, and that he would just leave everything to God. —LBG, GMA News