Roxas denies DILG takeover in Tacloban

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas on Tuesday denied asking Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez to let the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) take over the city following the massive devastation there caused by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). “Walang naging usapan na takeover ng DILG o national government sa Tacloban city hall,” Roxas said in a DILG statement. The statement also said that some reports had described Roxas as "fuming mad" over the allegations. “This is absolute nonsense and there was a roomful of people in the command center at the city who can attest to this,” the DILG secretary emphasized. Roxas was referring to a meeting with Romualdez where they discussed rehabilitation efforts in Tacloban City, the hardest hit area of Typhoon Yolanda. Romualdez, in an interview on radio dzBB Tuesday morning, said Roxas asked him during the meeting to write to President Benigno Aquino III informing him of his inability to function as mayor in the wake of Yolanda. He said his lawyers discouraged him from writing the letter as it could be seen as a form of resignation. “Kasi sinasabi niya (Roxas), lahat halos ng mga functions ng government, hindi ko nagagawa. Sabi ko, hindi totoo 'yun. Nagagawa ko. Pagkatapos sabi niya sa akin, 'Isulat mo na lang na lahat 'di mo nagagawa para tumulong kami. Kami ang papasok',” Romualdez said in the interview as shown on GMA News' “24 Oras.” “Mukhang pulitika na talaga 'to eh. Ayoko isipin 'yun eh, pero bakit ako lang? Bakit kami lang?” added Romualdez, whose aunt, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, is the widow of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, the political rival of Aquino's father, assassinated senator Benigno Aquino Jr. Curfew But Roxas said he merely asked Romualdez to write a letter to Aquino to request for a curfew in the city following incidents of looting in the wake of the typhoon. “I asked them to write a letter so that the President has a basis for ordering said curfew,” he said, adding the city council has failed to pass an ordinance for the curfew due to lack of quorum. Without mentioning names, Roxas warned those “spreading lies” to “better be careful.” He said the DILG has the mandate to act for a local government official rendered “ineffective” by a disaster. “There are various laws that address the situation of an ineffective LGU official especially in emergencies. We never undermined them. Kaya lang, kung 'pilay' ang LGUs dahil biktima din sila, then we need to act," Roxas said. “We bent over backwards to be sensitive and courteous and this is the response we get? Grabe talaga ang intrigahan,” he added. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/KBK, GMA News