DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 September) – January Duterte, president of the city chapter of the Liga ng mga Barangay, attended less than half of the 33 sessions of the Sangguniang Panlungsod so far this year.
Davao CIty’s newly renovated Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) session hall as shown to media on Tuesday (31 July 2024).. MindaNews photo by IAN CARL ESPINOSA
Based on the record shared by City Council secretariat Charito Santos to media on Tuesday, Duterte, wife of Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City First District), attended 15 of the council sessions from January to August, making her the city councilor with the most absences.
Santos, however, said that most of her absences were due to “official business” supported by necessary documents.
“But every time she is absent from the session, she is submitting letters that she is on official business… There are instances that she needs to attend meetings that need her presence, so she has a letter [submitted] beforehand,” Santos said in the Aprubado sa Konseho press conference Tuesday morning at the SP building.
Duterte was absent during the session on Tuesday, September 17.
City council sessions are usually held on Tuesdays, four times a month.
A barangay chair of Catalunan Grande, Duterte was elected by her peers as Liga president of the city during their general membership meeting and election on December 11 last year.
She also served as Liga president from 2014 to 2018, when her husband was the city vice mayor.
Section 5-a of the 2010 Constitution of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas provides: “The duly elected President of the Liga at the municipal, city and provincial chapters shall serve as Ex-Officio members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, respectively.”
Meanwhile, Councilors Al Ryan Alejandre and Pilar Braga achieved perfect attendance during the same period having attended all 33 sessions.
Four council members, namely Assistant Floor Leader Louie John Bonguyan, Dante Apostol, Bonz Andre Militar, and Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative Rodolfo Mande, attended 32 of those sessions.
Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr., the presiding officer, attended 30 out of 33 sessions.
“Actually, two of his three absences were not really marked as absent. That’s an official business, as he was designated as acting city mayor,” Santos said in the vernacular.
Quitain said that what is more important for him is to establish a quorum so a session may start.
He said there was not a time they had to cancel a session for lack of quorum.
“When the councilors go absent, most of them go to official businesses, it just so happens that their official businesses were really on the day when we have our session,” the vice mayor said.
“I am not particular on the absences, my concern is to have a quorum and proceed with the session. As to the [city council’s] overall performance, I think, very satisfactory,” he added.
Meanwhile, City Councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus Jr. sponsored the most resolutions from January to August with 186, followed by Braga with 149, floor leader Jesus Joseph Zozobrado and Jessica Bonguyan with 67 each, and Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz with 65.
Collectively, the city council passed 507 resolutions and 159 ordinances from January to June 2024.
“I repeatedly say, it’s not about how many you passed, but how important were the resolutions you have passed,” Quitain said. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
