November 12, 2025 | 6:01pm
MANILA, Philippines — Twenty-four local officials are being investigated for taking foreign trips during the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Uwan” (international name: Hung Fong).
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the officials, most of whom are mayors, will be investigated for leaving the country amid the super typhoon despite “clear-cut guidelines.”
“Under investigation ngayon ang 24 na umalis na local chief executives. Despite the directive, umalis sila November 9 to 15,” Remulla said in a DZBB interview.
(Twenty-four local chief executives are currently under investigation. They departed between November 9 and 15, despite the directive.)
“That’s what they need to explain. It’s clear-cut guidelines. If they asked the local DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government), they probably didn’t ask, they will tell them the requirements,” he added.
(That’s what they need to explain. The guidelines are clear-cut. If they had asked the local DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] — which they probably didn’t — they would have been told the requirements.)
When asked about the local officials who had already traveled abroad before the DILG’s directive to cancel foreign trips, Remulla emphasized that there are clear guidelines governing such situations.
However, he emphasized that the officials’ “moral duty” was to be cognizant of the approaching cyclone.
“Lahat naman tayo nanonood ng balita, lahat tayo nagbabasa ng dyaryo, lahat tayo nakikita sa internet. Alam naman natin na may parating, ‘di ba?” Remulla said.
(We all watch the news, we all read the papers, and we all see what’s on the internet. We all know something’s coming, right?)
On November 8, the DILG announced that it had directed all elective and appointive local officials to cancel or postpone their foreign trips from November 9 to 15 as the country prepared for the effects of Uwan.
However, Remulla said that the trips of the two governors from the Cagayan Valley are not covered by the investigation, as they asked permission and left before the agency issued the directive.