‘Duterte has proof linking resigned official to graft’

President Rodrigo “Rody” Du te rte has evidence linking an ofi ci al of the Department of Labor and Employment, who had just resigned, to alleged graft and corruption, his spokesman revealed on Thursday.

“I think it was good for him to have resigned because I know for a fact that the president already has evidence about this possibility on the the involvement of undersecretary (Dominador) Say,” Harry Roque told ANC News.

Roque revealed that Say’s alleged involvement in corruption concerned labour recruiters but he did not elaborate.

Roque’s revelation contrasted sharply with the announcement of Say on Tuesday that he resigned to “spare” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello from accusations of being “soft” on management on the controversial issue of contractual is at ion. In this regard, Bel lo on thursday announced that du te rte decided not to issue an executive order banning contractual is at ion, more popular ly known in labour circles as “endo” or end of contract.

Bello told a media brieing that Duterte instead left it to the Senate and the House of Representatives to enact a law banning the practice which was sought by the country’s major groups for being “anti-labour.”

Earlier, reliable Malacanang Palace sources disclosed that Say was next on Duterte’s chopping block following the resignation of one of the president’s staunchest allies Vitaliano Aguirre as the secretary of justice.

The sources said that Aguirre, a staunch ally and fraternity brother of Duterte when they were studying at the San Beda University College of Law, run by Benedictine priests, was forced to resign for not reportedly living up to the standards like good performance set by the president especially for his cabinet members.

Earlier, Duterte lamented that those who egged him to run for president were the ones who have been involved in alleged illegal activities when he appointed them to ofice. “Please, mayor, run because we don’t have any other candidate - to repair the nation, to rehabilitate everything and to stop corruption .... blah, blah, blah,” one of the sources quoted Duterte as complaining about the “bad choices” he has made in a mix of Filipino and English. Duterte, the former mayor of his hometown of Davao City in Mindanao for more than 20 years, said he thought those who were convincing him to run for president were after the betterment of the country and would not engage in corruption.