No sacred cows
We all know by now that one of the things that makes President Duterte blow his top is when he is publicly criticized regarding efforts to rid the country of criminality and eradicate the drug menace. But according to a close presidential associate — another thing that really gets the President’s goat is when his appointees get implicated in corruption.
It was the President’s promise to wage an intense anticorruption drive within the bureaucracy that resonated strongly with Filipinos — who responded by voting him to the presidency by an overwhelming margin. That’s why early in his term, President Rody opened up a text hotline that would enable people to report about corruption and red tape in government.
On many occasions, the President had also publicly warned that “just a whiff of corruption” could be enough to get an official fired. In fact, President Rody is so “allergic to corruption” that he said he would resign out of a sense of delicadeza if any of his children become embroiled in corruption.
Duterte made good on his word when he fired Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno during the Cabinet meeting last Monday. Our inside mole says the “shouting episode” that reportedly occurred — with the President showing his temper while grilling Sueno — indicates the chief executive’s level of irritation when it comes to corruption issues.
Prior to his sacking, Sueno’s underlings had written a confidential “Dear President Digong” memo urging the President to look into the alleged questionable activities and transactions of the DILG secretary. Rumors had actually been circulating that Sueno was using his Cabinet position allegedly to enrich himself and his relatives.
But apparently, what really did Sueno in was the controversial fire trucks acquisition deal involving Austrian manufacturer Rosenbauer. According to the source, the President asked Sueno pointblank if he was aware of the legal issues involving the P3-billion Rosenbauer contract which is the subject of a complaint by former party-list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz.
The former lawmaker filed a petition for certiorari late last year asking the Supreme Court to nullify the truck acquisition deal that the DILG had entered into with the Austrian supplier for the purchase of 156 units of fire trucks under the Bureau of Fire Protection’s “fire protection capability program” because it did not go through a public bidding, and funding was not covered by appropriation from Congress.
The source says reports had already reached the President that Sueno traveled to Austria — reportedly with his family — to personally see to the delivery of the 76 fire trucks. Apparently, Sueno figured that since the Rosenbauer contract was signed by his predecessors, it was already considered a “done deal” despite allegations the agreement was onerous to the government as the fire trucks — with an estimated cost of P20 million per unit — were overpriced since other suppliers were offering similar specifications for half the price.
People in the know tell us the sacked DILG chief should have put a stop to the fire truck acquisition deal, which has been hounded by controversies and corruption allegations as early as 2011 during the time of the late Jesse Robredo as interior secretary. At the time, the DILG was faced with accusations that it provided advanced information regarding the technical specifications to a favored supplier — allegedly Rosenbauer — even before prospective bidders were informed of the date of bidding.
Robredo denied the allegations, but pushed through with the program to procure 76 fire trucks worth P1.3 billion to be supplied by Rosenbauer through a loan from the government of Austria. The late DILG chief said he would not recommend the approval of the loan without the 60 percent grant element, and if it would cost the government more than P7.2 million for each unit of Rosenbauer fire truck.
Documents pertaining to the supply contract signed by Robredo and a Rosenbauer executive in December 2011 revealed, however, that the cost per fire truck was at over P17 million — excluding import duties, taxes and other costs which would be shouldered by the government through DILG, bringing the cost per unit further up to about P20 million, which critics questioned and decried as onerous.
Despite that, Mar Roxas, who succeeded Robredo at the DILG, wanted to purchase in 2014 an additional 300 fire trucks supplied again by Rosenbauer. In July 2015, the DILG — by then under Mel Senen Sarmiento — inked a contract with the Austrian company for the delivery of another 76 fire trucks for about P1.5 billion — prompting Dela Cruz — who had been consistently questioning the fire truck deal over the years — to file a case before the Supreme Court. The fact is, many have been questioning the decision of the DILG (during the term of Noynoy Aquino) to import fire trucks when the “tropicalized” units manufactured locally only cost about P6 to P9-million.
Businessmen are pleased that there are no “sacred cows” when it comes to corruption, because Sueno belongs to the core group of Duterte campaign supporters. The President doesn’t really care who becomes a casualty in his war against corruption — which is what many Filipinos admire about him considering that his predecessor came under heavy criticism for refusing to fire his appointees embroiled in corruption allegations despite strong public outcry.
A Davao businessman told me “other heads will roll,” and that “a Cabinet reshuffle is upcoming.” Actually, we are told the President is not the type to just listen to whispers about corruption involving officials. He himself checks out the facts and conducts his own investigations. Is corruption going to be the theme for the Duterte speeches? We’ll soon find out.