Roxas, Romualdez meet in Congress probe on Yolanda response. Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez greets DILG Secretary Mar Roxas II (right) before the start of the Congressional Oversight Committee hearing on the government’s Yolanda response at the Senate on Thursday, January 23. Roxas came face to face with Romualdez, a month after the local official accused the Cabinet official of bringing up clan politics in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Benjie Castro
After a month-long word war on the government’s response to Typhoon Yolanda, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez said there is no bad blood between them.
“We’ve always been friends. Si Secretary Mar, kahit wala pa sa pagka-Secretary, we were together in Congress,” Romualdez told reporters.
Roxas meanwhile said that the issue between him and Romualdez was just “intrigue” blown out of proportion.
“Natutuwa ako na nabigyan kami ng chance na magkita uli sa isang convivial na situation,” the Cabinet official said.
He also invited Romualdez to a meeting on Tacloban’s rehabilitation after Yolanda.
The Tacloban mayor also said Roxas asked him to cede control of the city to the national government instead of immediately responding to the needs of the typhoon victims.
