THE Palace spokesman on Wednesday said he had to delay the announcement of the firing of a presidential appointee, after saying a day earlier that he would do so on Jan. 3.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque again declined to identify the official, but said he did not come from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, which is under fire for spending more than P6 million for its Christmas party.
Despite these reports, Roque said Duterte continued to hold “in high esteem” general manager Alexander Balutan and director Sandra Cam.
“I can make the confirmation that the official who I was tasked to announce and… belatedly told to hold in abeyance is not from the PCSO,” Roque said.
He also said the official was not from the Energy Regulatory Commission, even though the Palace is looking into the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to suspend four of its commissioners for a year for giving the Manila Electric Co. undue advantage by exempting its power supply agreements from bidding.
Roque would only say that if the official is fired, it would be because of corruption.
“Like all presidential appointees he’s being sacked or I do not know if he’s still going to be sacked because of loss of trust and confidence,” he said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, mocked the administration’s practice of firing an official over alleged corruption, then appointing the official to another position.
Lacson did not refer specifically to fired Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon, who was recently appointed to the Office of the Civil Defense, but posted” “To one corrupt official: YOU’RE FIRED! To another corrupt official: YOU’RE HIRED!”
Lacson had previously accused Faeldon of graft and economic sabotage, blaming him for the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through the Bureau of Customs.