PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has asked his former campaign spokesman, Peter Tiu Laviña, to “quietly leave government” as the administrator of the National Irrigation Administration over allegations of extortion in the agency.
Laviña, a former Davao City councilor and personal aide of Duterte, was asked to resign from his post after he allegedly asked for 40 percent in kickbacks for NIA projects.
NIA spokesperson Pina Bermudez said that Laviña tendered his resignation “sometime last week” but it took effect only Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Estrella Icasiano, a career official, would temporarily replace Laviña as administrator, Bermudez said.
In a speech during the launch of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission in his hometown, last Friday, Duterte referred to Lavina as the appointee from Davao City whom he “fired” the night before “for simply making a remark.”
In a text message to Duterte, Laviña apologized for embarrassing him amid the allegations of corruption in his agency.
“I’m sorry that these intrigues have affected his crusade against graft and corruption. I did not do anything to harm this drive to reform government,” the message read.
He denied that he was extorting money from anyone and hinted that his name was tarnished to put him in bad light.
“I have been vilified in the past; my name used, abused and maligned. Recently, there had been efforts to discredit me again. There are rumors circulating that I have asked money from NIA contractors. These are not true,” Laviña said in his Facebook post.
“To spare the President from these embarrassing stories, particularly in these times of intensified attacks on him, I have quietly left government. I have neither personal vested interest in it nor ill intent towards NIA and the whole government, which we are trying to reform,” he added.
He, however, insisted that he did not betray the President, amid his warning that he won’t tolerate corruption under his watch.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve the government, especially to President Duterte, whose trust I have never betrayed,” he said.
“I have proven in the past that one need not be in government to do public service or work for the common good. I will likely continue to do so in media, civil society and the business sector where I have been involved before,” he added.
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who serves as his immediate superior as one of the 12 anti-poverty agencies under his watch, confirmed Laviña’s resignation.
“NIA [administrator] Peter Laviña tendered his resignation amidst attempts to [vilify], discredit and malign him and to spare the President from any embarrassment due to these attempts, it is with deep regret that our office receives this news and wishes him well in his next endeavors,” Evasco told reporters in a text message.
Laviña earlier promised to push for Duterte’s vow of free irrigation to boost the country’s rice self-sufficiency, as well as tapping hydropower resources to provide electricity to far-flung villages.
Shortly after Duterte won, Laviña claimed that some individuals using his name “were going the rounds of oil companies soliciting funds for the incoming administration.”
His wife, Evelyn, is currently an undersecretary at the Agriculture Department.