Official who convinced Duterte to run gets fired
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has fired local government Secretary Ismael D. Sueno due to “loss of trust and confidence,” Malacañang disclosed on Tuesday.
Mr. Sueno, who was instrumental in convincing Mr. Duterte to run for President last year, accepted the decision “wholeheartedly,” saying he remained innocent of corruption allegations against him.
Mr. Sueno’s dismissal was announced at the end of the 14th Cabinet meeting on Monday, where Mr. Duterte asked him “a few” questions, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“The summary dismissal served as a warning that Mr. Duterte would not countenance any questionable or legally untenable decisions by any member of the Cabinet,” Mr. Abella said.
Mr. Sueno’s crucial role in Mr. Duterte’s presidential bid did not stop the chief executive from “pursuing his drive for a trustworthy government by addressing issues like corruption,” Mr. Abella said.
For his part, Mr. Sueno declared that he “is not corrupt,” adding that the President must have been fed with the wrong information by people “salivating” for his position at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Mr. Sueno’s departure from office came after the Office of the President received a confidential letter enumerating graft allegations against him.
The letter reportedly came from the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRDNECC), a pro-Duterte volunteer organization that campaigned for the chief executive last year.
The letter’s complainants accused Mr. Sueno of “suspiciously” owning a new hotel in Marbel, South Cotabato and influencing a task force investigating narcopoliticians in order to clear a mayor. He was also alleged to have purchased firetrucks abroad for his personal business.
These complainants reportedly include three DILG undersecretaries — John Castriciones, Jesus V. Hinlo, and Emily Padilla — whom Mr. Sueno earlier urged Mr. Duterte to dismiss, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Mr. Sueno and three DILG undersecretaries are all members of the pro-Duterte group.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. Sueno said he did not use his post as DILG chief to enrich himself.
Mr. Sueno also qualified that the letter sent to Mr. Duterte’s was “initiated” by the three undersecretaries, whom he said were “piqued” by his order to reassign some projects to other DILG officials due to lack of progress.
MARCOS, JR. AS DILG CHIEF?
Mr. Abella also dismissed speculations that Mr. Duterte is preparing for the appointment of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. to the DILG once the ban on appointing candidates ends next month.
“There has been no comment, no mention and absolutely no reference to him (Mr. Marcos) as far as I’m concerned,” the Palace spokesperson said in a press briefing, adding that the President has yet to choose a replacement for Mr. Sueno.
The son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos lost in the vice-presidential race last year by a slim margin against Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo.
Under the law, a losing candidate cannot be appointed to a government post within a year after the election.
Meanwhile, Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV, a staunch critic of Mr. Duterte, told reporters he is certain Mr. Sueno was sacked because the administration is planning to install somebody as DILG secretary.
“Yes, I believe that they want to appoint somebody to head the DILG after the ban on appointing losing candidates,” Mr. Trillanes said in Filipino.
For his part, Atty. Ibarra M. Gutierrez III, Ms. Robredo’s legal adviser, expressed “concern” over the turn of events, saying that Mr. Sueno’s removal “may be a prelude to the appointment of former Senator Bongbong Marcos as DILG Secretary, especially since it comes so close to the end of the election ban.”
“Marcos as DILG Secretary can be ironically appropriate — Why not another Marcos to preside over an attempt to suspend the right to vote, reinstall rule by Executive fiat, and maybe pave the way to authoritarianism? This is all considering the administration’s move to cancel the barangay elections and appoint, instead of elect, barangay officials, along with the myriad of responsibilities and powers of the Secretary of DILG,” Mr. Gutierrez said in a statement.
OTHER OFFICIALS DISMISSED BUT ONE RETAINED
Mr. Duterte, who won on a platform of weeding out corruption during the presidential race last year, has repeatedly threatened to dismiss and “skin alive” dishonest government officials.
In March alone, he said he fired 92 government employees due to corruption.
The leader had also asked his election campaign spokesman, Peter Tiu Laviña, to resign as head of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) last month for allegedly milking money from contractors.
However, Mr. Duterte, in an apparent departure from his strong anti- corruption stance, threw his support behind actor turned Tourism Promotions Board head Cesar Montaño, who was recently hounded by corruption and mismanagement complaints.
“I trust the guy,” Mr. Duterte said of Mr. Montaño in a press conference on March 13. “If you have a gripe and if you think that there’s something wrong there, file a case.”
Asked by reporters on the seeming inconsistency in the President’s position on corruption, Mr. Abella said: “It’s not a question of inequality, it’s just that this is something that he has given due diligence to.”
“If the President has made his due diligence on this particular issue. It’s something that he can act on with decisiveness,” he added.