Malacañang to investigate DoT ad contract with Tulfo firm

MALACAÑANG CONFIRMED on Monday that President Rodrigo R. Duterte has already ordered a probe into the advertising contract of the Department of Tourism (DoT) with the Tulfo brothers’ show on government station PTV 4. The DoT is headed by the Tulfo brothers’ sister, Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo. “What I know is that the President is already aware of it, and I can confirm that there’s already a ‘let’s look into this’,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing. He added: “I assure you, the Palace will investigate the matter. We have to accept the findings of the Commission on Audit (CoA). The Palace will investigate on its own.” Reports came out over the weekend that CoA has flagged DoT’s placement of P60 million worth of advertisements in the show, produced by Ben T. Tulfo’s Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc. —

Ex-Justice: quo warranto a threat to judicial independence

RETIRED SUPREME Court Justice Vicente V. Mendoza on Monday warned that “a quo warranto proceeding filed against a member of the court or any impeachable officer for that matter filed more than a year after assumption of office will undermine the security of tenure granted by the Constitution to public officers.” Mr. Mendoza was referring to the petition seeking to void Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno’s appointment during an interview on ANC’s Headstart. “(It) will ultimately subvert the independence of the judiciary,” he added, citing the prohibition provided under the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. Ms. Sereno’s camp, in a press release, also argued that “if the rules of Court is to be followed, the filing of quo warranto against her already lapsed” as “she has been Chief Justice for almost six years.” —