Duterte aide slams ‘rude’ treatment of official

MANILA: A senior Malacanang Palace oficial on Friday denounced “disrespectful” members of the House of Representatives in rejecting their demand for the ouster of a Cabinet oficial blamed for allegedly inserting huge infrastructure funding in the proposed budget for 2019 without the knowledge of President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte.

Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, reiterated that henceforth, Duterte would not allow his Cabinet oficials as well as any member of the police and military to honour invitations and attend congressional committee hearings if they believed they would be treated with “disrespect.” “We will go there if invited but the moment any sign of disrespect is given a member of the Cabinet, we will excuse ourselves and beg leave from the committee hearing,” Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel, pointed out.

Panelo explained Duterte did not want any other Cabinet member or oficial of the executive department invited to congressional hearings to undergo the sad experience of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno at the hands of House leaders who invited him to a recent hearing on the proposed 2019 budget.

In particular, Panelo assailed House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya for “arrogantly” throwing questions and “mocking” Diokno when he appeared before the House on the alleged fraudulent budget insertions.

Panelo also denounced House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez who publicly accused Diokno of corruption and who introduced a resolution later approved by the chamber, which asked Duterte to dismiss Diokno.

In rejecting the resolution, he emphasized that Diokno continues to hold the trust and confidence of Duterte and that lawmakers should respect the president’s prerogative to choose his oficials.

“In the same manner that the president doesn’t tell Congress who it will choose as its oficers and how to go about it, we wish that its members return the same courtesy,” Panelo pointed out.

Several senators also took up the cudgels for Diokno with Senate President Vicente Sotto lauding his performance in crafting the administration’s spending plan.

“Ben Diokno,” Sotto said, “has been doing a good job and has never been known to indulge in any illegal actions as far as the government budget is concerned.”