Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Monday that the Department of the Interior and Local Government will continue to work once the long weekend ends.

In a statement posted on the Official Gazette Monday noon, Lacierda said that normal operations of the DILG and its attached agencies will continue.

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo is still missing after his plane crashed into the sea off the Masbate coast Saturday.

"We assure the public that the normal operations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and its attached agencies, continue, and are unhampered by the ongoing rescue effort. The President will be making further announcements concerning the Department at the proper time," Lacierda said.

The Department supervises the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

But Lacierda also said the priority of the authorities at this time is the ongoing search and rescue efforts for Robredo and his companions.

Along with Robredo, the plane's pilot and co-pilot remain missing.

To date, only Robredo's aide, Senior Inspector Jun Abrasado, has been found and rescued.

Search operations intensified Sunday after President Benigno Aquino III went to Masbate to personally supervise search operations.

Meanwhile, a separate report on dzBB quoted DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order Rico Puno as saying he managed to communicate with Abrasado shortly before the crash.

A report by dzBB's Glen Juego said Abrasado sent a text message at about 3 p.m. indicating a problem with the plane's propeller.

Another text sent at 4 p.m. indicated they were about to attempt an emergency landing.

But when Puno called up Abrasado, he could not talk with Robredo as Robredo was calling his wife at the time, the report said.

With Robredo still missing, the dzBB report quoted Puno as saying the DILG employees felt sad and "nangungulila."

However, Puno said they remain hopeful Robredo is still alive and will be rescued. - BM, GMA News