During the 2019 Social Good Summit at De La Salle University, some Metro Manila mayors revealed that they actually have a Viber group together. Among other things, this group is used to talk about class suspensions and “chismis”.
Rappler reports that it was Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte who brought up the subject of the Viber group.
“Kaya kung napansin po ninyo sabay-sabay na kaming nagsu-suspend ng klase [That’s why if you noticed, we now suspend classes at the same time],” Belmonte explained.
They were then asked by panelist urban planner Paulo Alcazaren if it was only the “young” mayors who were part of the group chat. Moreno replied in the negative, saying: “In fairness naman kay [Mandaluyong City Mayor Carmelita] Abalos, kay [Parañaque City Mayor Edwin] Olivarez, [Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro], everybody’s trying to participate and communicate using technology, which is great. That means na meron kaming chismis talagang among ourselves.”
[In fairness to Mayor Abalos, Mayor Olivarez, Mayor Teodoro, everybody’s trying to participate and communicate using technology, which is great. That means we have our own inside information.]
Belmonte talked more about the group to Rappler on September 24, explaining how it began. “There was a time na nag-meeting kaming lahat at napag-usapan na ‘yung pinakatingin kong pressing problem ng isang LGU official, believe it or not, is suspending classes,” she said.
[One time we had a meeting and we talked about how the most pressing problem of a local government official, believe it or not, is suspending classes.]
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She even revealed that the Viber group was divided into North and South subgroups. “Kasi usually napansin namin iba ‘yung weather sa north eh. So kasama ko diyan ‘yung Caloocan, si Malabon, si Valenzuela, di ba? Pero ‘yung southern group ‘yung Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Makati, Taguig, magkakasama din sila. So usually sila ‘yung nagsu-suspend at the same time, kami naman we suspend at the same time,” she explained.
[We noticed that the weather in the north is different. So I’m grouped with Caloocan, Malabon, and Valenzuela. Meanwhile, the southern group is composed of Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Makati, and Taguig. So usually the south group suspends at the same time, and we suspend classes at the same time.]
So now you know which mayors you have to tag when the one in charge of your constituency isn’t paying attention to your pleas for a suspension!
What do you think about this?
