Cebu officials who left PH amid ‘Tino’ face complaint

FILE PHOTO: Residents on Wednesday return to what is left of their homes along the Mananga River, after the devastation caused by Typhoon “Tino” (Kalmaegi) in Cebu. The tradition of building communities around bodies of water has been swept away by climate change and public infrastructure compromised by corruption. —AP

CEBU CITY—Cebu 5th District Rep. Duke Frasco and seven municipal mayors from the same district are facing administrative and criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas for allegedly abandoning their posts to travel to London at the height of Typhoon “Tino” (international name: Kalmaegi) which killed over 200 people, most of them in Cebu.

The complaints were filed on Tuesday by Atty. Julito Añora Jr., a Cebu-based lawyer who accused the officials of “gross negligence, grave misconduct, dereliction of duty and breach of public trust” for being abroad while their towns were suffering from floods.

Named in the complaint were Liloan Mayor Aljew Fernando Frasco, Catmon Mayor Avis Ginoo-Monleon, San Francisco Mayor Alfredo Arquillano Jr., Tudela Mayor Greman Solante, Pilar Mayor Manuel Santiago, Compostela Mayor Felijur Quiño and Poro Mayor Edgar Rama.

Borbon Mayor Nico Dotillos, who was supposed to go with them, had backed out of the trip.

According to Añora, official records showed that the group had been authorized to travel to the United Kingdom from Oct. 30 to Nov. 11, weeks before Tino’s arrival.

While he did not question Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro’s grant of a foreign travel authority to the group in September, Añora said the officials should have canceled or postponed their trip once the typhoon’s threat became apparent.

In an interview with reporters, he noted that the case is “not about politics but accountability.”

Public trust

“Public office is a public trust. Our people were drowning, our communities were suffering, and lives were being lost yet our local leaders were abroad on a private trip,” Añora said.

“This is about the 224 lives lost, the thousands displaced, and the families who will never be the same. We owe it to the victims, to the survivors, and to every taxpayer who expects duty and service from those elected to lead. We cannot normalize negligence,” he added.

Añora called on the Ombudsman to investigate the officials, place them under preventive suspension and pursue criminal prosecution under the Anti-Graft Law, which carries penalties of dismissal from service, forfeiture of benefits, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

Rep. Frasco, meanwhile, defended himself, saying his travel was an authorized official mission to the World Travel Market to promote tourism. It had been approved by the House speaker and involved no government funds, he added.

Upon arriving in London on Nov. 4 and learning of Cebu’s flooding, Frasco said he returned to the Philippines on Nov. 6, and started helping in relief efforts in Liloan.