In a statement, the Office of the City Secretary named Councilors Robert Dean Barbers, Mark Joseph and Vice Mayor Edu Manzano as the top three City Council members who registered the most absences from July 1998 to December 2000.
Based on the Council records, Joseph was absent from 58 sessions, Joseph, 56 and Manzano, 53 out of a total 118 sessions. According to the statement, there were 15 occasions when Manzano, presiding officer of the Council, was either on sick, vacation or official leave.
Councilor Astulfo Pimentel, who was cited for having near perfect attendance in the Council sessions, criticized the three officials for their absences.
"The most basic duty of members of the Council, whether presiding officer or councilor, is to be present during sessions," Pimentel said.
In an interview, Manzano explained that all of his absences were excused as most of it were due to his other commitments as vice mayor of the city.
He claimed that he was mostly at the Office of the President on official meetings during the height of the Visiting Forces Agreement issue.
His attendance at the meetings in Malacañang was required because of his concurrent position as President of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines.
"When does a meeting in Malacañang constitute an absence? All of these so-called absences were declared and excused," Manzano said.
Manzano likewise pointed out that Mayor Elenita Binay had filed over 70 days of leaves during the two year period, all of which were for "personal reasons."
"I have never filed a vacation leave during my term. It is the mayor who should be questioned," Manzano said.
Councilor Barbers for his part explained that he chose to be absent in most of the sessions.
"I decided not to attend because I knew that they would just do what they wanted to do. The independence in the body is no longer there," Barbers said.
He added that none of the ordinances and resolutions he filed were ever passed during the Council sessions because of the sheer majority of their counterparts.
Barbers cited two ordinances he filed congratulating Senator Teofisto Guingona for being named as Vice President and congratulating Iglesia ni Cristo Executive Minister Erano Manalo on the foundation day of the church which did not pass during the sessions.
"We are working hard but these people are not giving the minority the chance to present their side," Barbers said.
Meanwhile, Joseph called on the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) camp of mayoral candidate Jejomar Binay to stop the premature celebrations, two months before the elections.
In a statement, Joseph expressed his disappointment over the grandstanding tactics of the PDP-Laban, which has downplayed the chances of its Lakas-NUCD counterparts in the upcoming local government election in Makati City.
Joseph, who is seeking his second term as councilor of the first district of the city under the Lakas-NUCD ticket, described the upcoming elections as a battle between the new and traditional politicians.
Manzano, Binay’s opponent in the May elections, and Barbers echoed the sentiments of Joseph that the elections is a virtual toss-up between the two parties inspite of the results of recent popularity surveys conducted by various groups.
Based on the surveys, Binay was an overwhelming favorite in the race for mayor with Manzano trailing by a very significant margin.