It seems politics is getting in the way Balilihan town is responding to the Covid infection as the town vice mayor has allegedly aired negative insinuations regarding this; insinuations which the the town mayor, barangay officials and other residents strongly deny.
Observers have been harping on the exchange of insinuations and reply between Balilihan vice mayor Adonis Roy Olalo (the alleged “insinuator”) and mayor Pureza Veloso-Chatto. The vice mayor has allegedly insinuated some negative condition of the locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who are under quarantine in a facility in barangay Sagasa.
Chatto, together with some people from Balilihan, are strongly denying the insinuations that the LSIs under quarantine in a facility in the town are being “padlocked”.
It was reported that Olalo allegedly made insinuations that the LSI were/are padlocked, an accusation which the mayor and the local government unit (LGU) focal person on LSIs, flatly denied.
Chatto further calls Olalo’s statement as “most irresponsible” during this Covid crisis.
The Balilihan mayor issued her statement in a radio interview over dyTR’s “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa” on Thursday, July 2, 2020, hosted by the sister tandem of Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Gloria Leodivica Ines Araneta.
In the interview, Chatto said that the statement of Olalo “gikandado daw” is very unfair to the barangay officials and those people who are always doing their best to help fight the Covid 19 crisis.
Moreover, Chatto said that she doesn’t know where the vice mayor got the information regarding the alleged padlocking of LSIs in the quarantine facility.
“Dis-a sya anang komentaryoha nga for sure wala sya muabot didto sa (barangay) Sagasa kay sya mismo naka quarantine,” Chatto said in the radio interview.
The mayor also said that it is impossible for the vice mayor to have personally seen the quarantine facility in Sagasa because he himself was in quarantine in another area.
Chatto was surprised how Olalo could make such an insinuation, in public over Facebook, when he did not have a clear picture of how the Sagasa quarantine facility looks like.
The Balilihan mayor continued by saying that the vice mayor was under quarantine as soon as he arrived in Balilihan, from Manila where he was stranded with his family and where he stayed for not less than three (3) months. The current local chief executive of Balilihan made the statement to counter Olalo’s alleged insinuations that the LSIs are padlocked in the quarantine area.
Furthermore, the mayor said that the alleged insinuations by the vice mayor are not validated and should not have been made public.
It was also revealed in the interview that, Olalo was stranded in Manila for not less than three (3) months. Chatto, the same interview said, that she came to learn about the whereabouts of the vice mayor only last April 20, 2020, when the vice mayor wrote her (the mayor) a letter. This letter from the vice mayor was in response to Mayor Chatto’s letter asking for Olalo’s whereabouts.
Chatto explained that if a government official is making a personal trip, no travel authority is needed, but there should be a “leave” to be filed before the town’s chief executive—who is the mayor.
Chatto further said that she did not know if the vice mayor filed a “leave” which explains why she had no idea on Olalo’s whereabouts until the letter from Olalo landed on her desk.
Olalo, according to Chatto, left Bohol on March 7, 2020. Tracing the dates, Bohol imposed a lockdown and a travel ban on March 16, 2020. With these timeline, Chatto said during the interview, “He (Olalo) had ample time na mupauli but he did not do that,”
In her concluding statements during the interview, Chatto appealed for unity, kindness, and truthfulness in dealing with this Covid crisis.
She said that what the LGU executives are doing now is not that easy because our enemy is unseen.
The same condition is true to all the frontliners as they do their tasks, Chatto continued.
Despite all these difficulties, Chatto was very definite in saying that it is her responsibility to serve her people in Balilihan and she is accepting this task without any reservation and without any fear as she always seeks for the help of the Almighty Father.
THE GOVERNOR’S TAKE
Gov. Arthur Yap was asked about the allegations that LSIs have been padlocked in the quarantine facility.
The governor said that he hasn’t come across any regulation, which requires LSIs to be padlocked in the quarantine facility.
The governor said putting a lock on the quarantine facility is “dangerous”.
He added that LSIs may have a hard time getting out of the facility in the event of a fire or any kind of disaster.