Urban poor

Kabataan party-list in the previous Congress, was nothing personal.

Ridon supposedly traveled including the National Housing Cabinet Secretary. The trips were for international conferences related to poverty alleviation and development.

Trips approved by Palace

In a statement, Ridon said the trips

“All trips were covered by travel the President and recommended by involving international conferences relevant to the urban poor: poverty alleviation, public housing and climate change,” Ridon said.

In a radio interview, Ridon admitted he was surprised at Duterte’s decision but said he served at the pleasure of the President.

Ridon thanked Duterte for the “opportunity to serve the nation,” adding that the commission had performed its mandate “with the “heavy burden of undertaking genuine reform.”

“The public record of the agency can speak for itself: we had implemented with full integrity the presidential promise of no demolition without relocation,” Ridon said in a text message.

In a news conference, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said other commissioners for being “notorious for junkets abroad.”

“So this kind of work performance has no place in the Duterte administration. We reiterate, we are serious about the drive against corruption in government,” he said.

Not abolished

Roque initially said Duterte was abolishing the entire commission but soon issued a correction.

He said the filing of charges against the commissioners would be “logical conclusion.”

Under Executive Order 82 dated December 8, 1986, the commission serves as the direct link of the urban poor to the government in policy formulation and program implementation.

Former president Benigno Aquino 3rd transferred the commission under the supervision March 2012.

In August 2016, Duterte appointed Ridon, a graduate of the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, to head the agency.

Ridon and the other commissioners came after the collapse of peace talks with communist rebels and Duterte’s move to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing as terrorist organizations.Roque said the Duterte’s decision had nothing to do with Ridon’s

“Even if Terry Ridon is leftleaning, I know that he is separate from leftist groups because he was no longer taken as Kabataan party-list’s nominee for a second time,” he said.