DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/8 July) — Vice Mayor Melchor Quitain is the acting mayor of Davao City for at least two days, as Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte is now in Cebu to support athletes playing in the Palarong Pambansa, acting city administrator Francis Mark Layog said during the flag ceremony on Monday morning.
“Karon, wala siya nagleave, nag official business siya sa Palarong Pambansa in Cebu (He is in official business in Palarong Pambansa in Cebu, he’s not on leave),” Layog, who introduced Quitain as the acting city mayor told reporters.
However, “when it comes to leaves, he always files his leave of absence,” he said.
Layog also said Duterte always gives directives of what work to prioritize before taking leave or doing official business outside the city.
“There’s no issue with that, that should not be a problem as everything is intact. And I reiterate, it’s not only one person who’s running the city. We are an organization led by a mayor),” he said in the vernacular.
Earlier, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos belied a Pilipino Star Ngayon article posted on July 2 that Duterte will be called out for allegedly abandoning Davao City during a flood.
“Ito po ay walang katotohanan (This is false) as far as DILG is concerned,” Abalos said on Facebook along with a screenshot of the news report.
Lawyer Harry Roque, former spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte, said on June 6 that there was a plan by the Marcos administration to suspend Duterte and Quitain.
Roque alleged that the mayor’s involvement in Hakbang ng Maisug rallies was the ground for the supposed suspension. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
