SENATORIAL candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Friday said President Benigno Aquino III did not need an invitation to second anniversary commemoration of Typhoon “Yolanda’’ because he is the Father of the Nation.
“[President Aquino] does not need an invitation. He’s the President and it is not a wedding,” Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, told reporters during the Tinapayan News Forum at Kamuning in Quezon City.
“He is the father of all Filipinos and his presence [in Tacloban City] would show his malasakit [compassion] and concern for Yolanda survivors,” Romualdez added.
Nonetheless, Romualdez maintained that his cousin, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, extended an invitation to President Aquino to attend the Nov. 8 activities like what they did last year.
“We lost so much during the onslaught of Yolanda. But we never lose our civility, protocol and courtesy to the office he [President Aquino] represents,” Romualdez pointed out.
Romualdez also urged the media to verify diligently the information that Malcañang had provided them during press conferences and briefings in defense of the President’s absence during the Yolanda commemoration.
“I am not saying that you cannot trust them, but the media must carefully verify the accuracy of the information being released to them,” Romualdez said.
Aquino was not in Tacloban City because he was guest of honor at the wedding of Kester Andrew Tan, youngest son of Megaworld chairman Andrew Tan, to Kelsey Cheng at the shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Newport.
Mayor Romualdez earlier disclosed that they invited Aquino last month to the commemoration of the second anniversary of Yolanda onslaught through a letter dated Oct. 27, 2015.
But Malacañang said it did not receive any invitation, which was why Aquino was absent in ceremonies for those who perished in the strongest typhoon in history.