NBI summons Pasig mayor for breaking lockdown rules

GOVERNMENT agents have summoned the mayor of Pasig City for allegedly violating a Luzon-wide lockdown when he allowed tricycles drivers to operate.

Ferdinand M. Lavin, spokesman of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said on Wednesday Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto had been ordered to appear before its office on April 7.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered a Luzon-wide lockdown on March 16, suspending classes, work and public transportation to contain a novel coronavirus outbreak.

Mr. Sotto earlier asked the National Government to exempt tricycles from the transportation ban so they could ferry health workers to and from work. The government denied his appeal on March 18.

“We complied with all directives,” he tweeted yesterday. “It’s not illegal to express an opinion,” he said, adding that the law giving Mr. Duterte special powers to deal with the outbreak took effect on March 24 and should not be applied retroactively.

The law also mandates local governments to obey the rules issued by the National Government. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas