Manila Vice Mayor and Manila City Council Presiding Officer John Marvin "Yul Servo" Nieto said that there was no "secret session" that took place in MCC last July 23, following a complaint filed by 17 city councilors against him and other council members.
In the monthly "Balitaan Forum" conducted by the Manila City Hall Reporters' Association at the Harbor View Restaurant in Ermita on August 27, Nieto reiterated that all sessions are livestreamed on social media.
"Nakakatuwa rin po at saktong sakto po na ang City Council po ngayon mayroong [Facebook] live. Tuwing may session po kami naka-livestream alas don ng hapon, Tuesday-Thursday (It's fortunate that the City Council now has a [Facebook] live. We livestream every session at two in the afternoon every Tuesday-Thursday)," Nieto said.
He stressed that on July 23, he was busy roving the city amid Typhoon Carina. He said he was rescuing Manileños from floods and leading disaster response and relief distribution, but the MCC convened to hold a session in order to approve the state of calamity ordinance and authorize the release of calamity funds for barangays affected by floods.
Although the work suspension was declared that day due to Typhoon Carina, he said the MCC had to continue with the session due to urgent matters that needed to be discussed and approved for residents affected by the flood.
"Kung secret po iyon, wala po sanang live pero naka-live po 'yon atsaka nakaabot naman po iyong isang kasama nating konsehal na nag-file rin po ng kaso, si Councilor Atty. JP Hizon (If it was a secret, there wouldn't have been a live broadcast, but it was livestreamed and one of our councilors who also filed a case, Councilor Atty. Jaybee Hizon, was even able to catch up on the session)," he noted.
"Ang session po noong July 23, po naka-live po iyon pwede niyo pong balikan. Ako po bago magstart, gusto ko talaga laging naka-live ang session kasi for public naman po talaga ang session natin (The session last July 23 was livestreamed, you can watch it online. Before starting, I really want the session to be livestreamed because the session is really for the public)," he added.
Read story: https://mb.com.ph/2024/08/22/vm-yul-servo-urges-city-councilors-to-assess-their-performance-1