MANILA (Updated) – President Rodrigo Duterte has fired Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, who earlier accused three of his undersecretaries of being behind a black propaganda against him, after a Cabinet meeting Monday, a Palace spokesperson said Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the dismissal of Sueno was based on the "loss of trust and confidence" by the President, following allegations that he enriched himself during the past months that he has been head of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
"President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has dismissed Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary, Mr. Ismail Sueno, citing loss of trust and confidence," Abella said in a statement.
Abella said Sueno may have been one of the key persons who convinced Duterte to run for president in the 2016 polls but that did not prevent the Chief Executive from removing government officials who are tainted with corruption.
"The President had earlier asked a few questions on Mr. Sueno but the summary dismissal served as a warning that Mr. Duterte would not countenance any questionable or legally untenable decisions by any member of the Cabinet," he added.
"The President is interested in establishing whether or not this Secretary has engaged in certain activities," Abella said in a press briefing Tuesday. "Apparently, the President has done due diligence and so he has checked into the matter. And apparently, he has taken note of several legally untenable situations."
Duterte reportedly received a confidential letter from "Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte - National Executive Coordinating Committee," a national volunteer organization which helped Duterte's presidential bid, accusing Sueno of some irregularities.
The group accused Sueno of collecting money from illegal gambling rings through a certain Senior Superintendent Sintin.
Sueno dismissed the allegations against him as "black propaganda" allegedly initiated by his three undersecretaries – John Castriciones, Jesus Hinlo, and Emily Padilla -- who were upset by his recent order to reassign some of the workload and projects to the other undersecretaries.
He explained nothing had happened to the programs given to the said three officials and nothing much is moving in terms of accomplishments.
In the flag-raising ceremony Monday, Sueno said that the hotel in South Cotabato mentioned in the letter belongs to his younger brother who is a long-time businessman, and the cargo trucks are owned by his daughter who is engaged in a trucking and rice business.
However, he admitted that he owns the farm that was stated in the letter.
Sueno denied reports accusing him of collecting grease money from illegal gambling rings through a certain Senior Superintendent Sintin.
Sueno said that in his many years in public service, he has never used his position to enrich himself or pursue his personal interests.
"It appears that from the very start, they want my head and are out to discredit me because they want somebody else to head the department," he said.
Sueno ready to face probe
Sueno said Tuesday he is ready to face any investigation to clear his name following corruption allegation.
As he respects the decision of Duterte to remove him from his post, Sueno said the Chief Executive could have been fed with the wrong information by those who were "salivating" for his post from the start.
"I wholeheartedly accept the decision of the President. It is his call if he wants me in his Cabinet or not. But for the record, Mr. President, and I can say this with all honesty and sincerity, hindi po ako corrupt," he said in a statement.
"I just wished the information was validated. If only the President asked DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) personnel from the central down to the regional and field offices, he would have known who amongst us are more credible and trustworthy," he said.
He said he is ready to clear his name and he is ready to face any investigation by any concerned group or body.
"My conscience is clear. Inuulit ko po, wala akong ginawa o ginagawang anomalya," he said.
The embattled Sueno said that despite the circumstances, he is grateful for the opportunity to have served the DILG for almost ten months.
"I believe that I did my best and I gave my whole heart to the job. I am also fortunate to have been given a chance to work with a dedicated and passionate workforce in the DILG," he said.
Anomalous payment of firetrucks
One of the issues raised against Sueno was the alleged anomalous payment of the Rosenbauer firetrucks.
Sueno said there was no way that he could have prevented the purchase of the firetrucks because it was a perfected contract entered into by the previous administration.
“My role was to abide by the provision of the contract which says that I should ensure that the firetrucks to be delivered are in good condition so my team and I had to go to Austria to inspect them. If we did not do that, we cannot anymore complain if they delivered defective firetrucks to us,” he said.
Sueno also said that the firetrucks are actually much cheaper compared to locally-made firetrucks because these are under a soft loan agreement for 23 years with only minimal interest rates.
“The Austrian firetrucks are new ones compared to the locally-made ones which are cheaper but are reconditioned and which are good only for a few years. But then again, this is beside the point. The contract is perfected and I only had to implement it,” he said.
Sueno said that while there is a pending petition preventing the enforcement/implementation of the contract before the Supreme Court, there was no temporary restraining order, any injunctive relief or even a status quo ante order issued by the court suspending or holding the same in abeyance.
On the other corruption issues that were thrown against him, he said that the truth will prevail in the end.
“What goes around comes around. I hope that they (referring to his detractors) will do better than I did in the DILG. I may be old, I may not be as articulate as my three lawyer-undersecretaries, but if there is one thing that I am sure of is I am not corrupt.”
Apart from Sueno, Abella also disclosed that there was "one another" who had been confronted by Duterte during his meeting with Cabinet officials. He, however, did not mention the particular government official.
Abella said Duterte is "very serious" in restoring trust in the current administration because many Filipinos have lost trust in the government.
"What he (Duterte) is actually doing is restoring trust in the government because apparently, in the longest time, the people have become, in a sense, hopeless of the situation. But he is actually empowering the Filipino people once more. They’re giving them a trustworthy government. It’s quite a challenge," Abella said.
Local Government Assistant RJ Echiverri, meanwhile, believed that Sueno is a victim of "professional jealousy" by some official in the DILG.
"We were all caught surprised because I for one also have my own grievance like say I was supposed to handle human resource but I was given another function. But it's really not a big deal. Because I always believed that whatever the Secretary would say and designate on you, you just have to respect it and just wait until further notice," Echiverri told CNN Philippines.
Echiverri said it was business as usual at the DILG despite the President's order to dismiss Sueno.
It was not the first time Duterte dismissed a trusted government official. The President earlier said he instructed former National Irrigation Administration administrator Peter Laviña, who was also accused of performing irregularities during his stint, to resign. (VoxPop Philippines/With SDR)
