DILG apologizes to House for skipping hearing on stranded persons

July 31, 2020

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday apologized to the House of Representatives for not appearing on an inquiry about locally stranded individuals (LSIs) amid the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement, Interior Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said their absence is due to miscommunication as the DILG-Napolcom (National Police Commission) Center has been on lockdown.

“We wish to underscore that our absence was not and will never be intentional, but a result of miscommunication due to the fact that the DILG-Napolcom (National Police Commission) Center has been on lockdown since Monday,” Malaya said.

“The lapses in our legislative liaison system have since been resolved and we are prepared to address any concerns that the committee may have on the matter of locally stranded individuals which the DILG and other government agencies under the umbrella of NTF COVID-19 have been addressing since the start of the global pandemic,” he added.

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on Thursday questioned the DILG for not sending any representative in the hearing when they are the one in charge of the government’s “Hatid Tulong” program.

Malaya assured congressmen that DILG will attend other House hearings if the agency would be summoned in the future.

“The Department has always abided by the summons of the Committee and we wish to assure the members that we commit to attend future hearings that it may call,” he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS