Guv, mayor bicker over LSI repatriations

By Felipe V Celino 

 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The governor of Capiz and mayor of Roxas City are at each other’s throats over the repatriation of local stranded individuals (LSIs).

Earlier, Mayor Ronnie Dadivas allegedly blocked the return of 53 LSIs from Batangas to Capiz.

This prompted Governor Esteban Evan Contreras to issue a show cause order against Dadivas.

But Dadivas thumbed down the order saying that the governor cannot force the head of a component city to explain. Only the Philippine president through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) can do that, he added.

In reply, Contreras said he has supervisory powers to issue the order based on the provisions of the Local Government Code.

The governor said that he will ask the provincial legal officer to study the answer of the mayor to the show cause order.

The 53 LSIs are from the 16 towns of Capiz, not from Roxas City.

Dadivas called for a timeout and prevented the transport of LSIs back to Capiz as they lack facilities and medical workers who will attend to persons who might be infected with COVID-19.

He said they need the 14-day timeout so that medical doctors, nurses, and attendants can take a breather.

Dadivas’ request was granted recently by the Inter-Agency Task Force but only for LSIs from Roxas City and not from the 16 towns of Capiz.