(UPDATE) No hint of politics in erroneous show cause order vs Isko -- DILG exec
By Chito Chavez
Politics played no part in the issuance of the show cause-order (SCO) to Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso regarding the city’s supposed failed 2018 anti-drug campaign, an executive officer of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) insisted on Friday, Aug. 6.

In a news briefing, DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya maintained that the agency immediately corrected its mistake by withdrawing the SCO issued to Moreno after they discovered its inadvertent issuance.
He noted that the DILG, under the helm of Sec. Eduardo Año, "is fair, unbiased, and transparent in trying our best to be honest".
Malaya added that DILG Undersecretary Ricojudge Echiverri, the official who issued the SCO, had already admitted that what he did was an "honest mistake".
"Nagpaliwanag na po diyan si Usec. Echiverri ng DILG kung saan sinabi po niya na nagkaroon ng inadvertent issuance ng show cause order last January. Doon po sa kaniyang withdrawal order na ipinadala kay DILG NCR Regional Director (Ma. Lourdes) Agustin ay inilahad na niya po doon at that time when the audit was done, it was Mayor Erap Estrada who was the mayor (DILG Usec. Echiverri had already explained that there was an inadvertent issuance of a show cause order last January. In the withdrawal order he sent to (DILG) NCR Regional Director (Ma. Lourdes) Agustin, he stated there that the audit was done during Mayor Joseph Estrada's time as mayor, " Malaya said.
Since Echiverri admitted the mistake, Malaya apologized to the Manila mayor for the erroneous SCO issued by the DILG official’s office.
Echiverri sent the SCO dated July 9, 2021 to Domagoso over the city's alleged failure to meet the standards of the Anti-Drug Abuse Council auditing team in 2018.
However, Domagoso only became the mayor of Manila when he was elected in 2019.
Sec. Año has admitted that the SCO should have been addressed to the predecessor of Domagoso, Joseph Estrada.