Palace distances from Roxas-Romualdez feud, wants focus on rehab efforts

Malacañang on Wednesday distanced itself from feuding Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, saying the government wants to focus on Typhoon Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation efforts.

"Ang focus po ng ating Pangulo at ng buong Gabinete sa ngayon ay ang pagsasapinal ng recovery and reconstruction program; what are the critical immediate actions that are needed. Lahat po ng ibang usapin [ay] hindi po primary attention areas," Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said after being asked about the issue between the two officials.

During a congressional oversight hearing on Monday, Romualdez claimed that Roxas asked him to cede control of the city and brought up clan politics instead of immediately sending help in the aftermath of Yolanda.

Roxas has denied this, although a video of the conversation has gone viral. He said it was doctored to remove the context of his words.

Asked if there really was a need for a document to indicate the government takeover, Coloma just said: "Ang alam ko pong prinsipyo ay iyong prinsipyo na kinakailangan iyong masinsin na pakikipag-ugnayan ng pambansa sa lokal na pamahalaan, lalung-lalo na po sa panahon ng kalamidad."

Contrary to Romualdez's claims, he said, there was never a time when help from the government was withheld because of legalities or bureaucracies.

"Iyon po siguro ang importante dito, iyong pagkilala na from the get-go, ang ating pambansang pamahalaan po ay sinikap na gawin lahat iyong mga nararapat at hindi naman po nag-impose ng any precondition sa pagbibigay noong actual relief and recovery assistance," he said.

But the Palace official also admitted that because of the "dynamics of the situation," some "differences in opinion" may arise, although he was quick to point out that there is a "right time" to discuss this.

"Siguro po ay mayroong tamang panahon sa kinabukasan kapag hindi na po tayo masyadong nakatutok doon sa recovery and reconstruction efforts where we could revisit iyon pong mga pangyayaring iyan sa pag-asang hindi naman maulit iyong mga iringan o iyong hindi kanais-nais na mga kaganapan," he said. — BM, GMA News