Malacanang said on Thursday that the mayors who were missing in action during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong should be meted out with the heaviest penalty.

In a press briefing, however, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said these absentee mayors who are now being investigated would be accorded due process.

"So they are being accorded their right to due process and decision to be made shortly thereafter," he said.

Roque could not divulge the names of the absentee local chief executives who come from Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

But he added that the Palace supports the move to penalize these absent mayors.

"We support that these mayors missing in action at the time when they are needed most should be meted with the heaviest penalty," he said.

On Wednesday, the Department of Interior and Local Government has said that it received reports about the absentee mayors whose local government units are part of the critical areas in the Ompong track.

DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order Bernardo Florece Jr. has said his office has been investigating and validating the reports.

The local chief executives who would be found culpable and liable for absenteeism and negligence of duty may be sanctioned with administrative cases.

“For cases filed within the DILG, the biggest sanction that LCEs ( local chief executives) will face can be suspension but for cases filed under the Ombudsman, the erring mayors could face dismissal,” he said.

Ompong, which hit the country on September 15 in northern Luzon, has left over 80 people dead and dozens missing. Celerina Monte/DMS