PALACE FIRES NEA CHIEF

President Duterte has fired National Electrification Administration (NEA) head Edgardo Masongsong after the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) found that Masongsong used the NEA’s funds to finance a party list group’s campaign in 2019.

“I dismissed him from public service,” Mr. Duterte said in a video messageaired on Saturday.

The President lamented the growing public skepticism about his commitment to fight corruption ahead of the May 9 elections.

“So I am given the opportunity to show to the people again that we are not bragging about it, but we are trying our best to cope with the situation regarding graft and corruption in our government,” he said.

He again blamed the constitutional Commission on Audit (COA) for its adverse findings on anomalies committed under his administration “because it will destroy the faith of the people in government.”

But Masongsong said he had yet to receive a formal notice for him to step down, but that he would do so as soon as he did.

“I am ready to turn over my responsibilities [as NEA administrator] to whomever is designated as NEA officer in charge once I am ordered to do so,” Masongsong said in a statement.

Masongsong again dismissed the PACC’s claim that he allowed NEA funds to be used to finance the political campaign of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association party list.

On Saturday, Masongsong said the matter could be easily verified from the records of the NEA.

“[I]f granted due process and the opportunity to defend myself, I can establish that I am innocent of any wrongdoing,” he said.