Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano has apologized on Monday over his decision to leave the city to travel for his birthday.
Soriano admitted that he traveled to Metro Manila to be with his family for his birthday.
After he left, at least 90 percent of Tuguegarao was submerged massive floods due to Typhoon Ulysses.
“I decided to spend my birthday — I’m really very sorry for that — with my family,” Soriano told CNN Philippines. “This is the second time I visited my family in 8 months. I am really very sorry for that. I underestimated the situation.”
Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano
Despite this, he assured his kababayans that he was on top of the situation even though he’s far away from the city.
The city mayor received backslash on social media after a photo of him and his daughter showed that he was in Batangas celebrating his birthday at the height of the typhoon.
Soriano said that he was about to return home on November 12, but the main highways were already close.
