Lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon on Sunday called for the removal of Senator Richard Gordon as the Philippine Red Cross chairman and chief executive officer, and six other presidential appointees from the humanitarian agency’s board of governors.
In a statement, Gadon said Gordon has overstayed at the Red Cross, and urged the removal of Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo Chua, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sherwin Gatchalian, and three other appointees of President Rodrigo Duterte as board members to give way for an election of a new PRC chairman.
“Senator Gordon has been on top of the Red Cross for the longest time, even before the Duterte administration,” the lawyer said. “Elections are held every two years at the Red Cross.”
Gordon had yet to react to Gadon’s statement as of press time.
The President on Thursday accused the senator of using the Red Cross to fund his election campaigns, but the PRC stood by its chairman, with 20 of its governors expressing “staunch and unequivocal support” to Gordon.
They hailed the senator as an unsalaried volunteer and has led the PRC into a “responsive and modernized institution.”
While Republic Act 10072 or the Philippine Red Cross Act of 2009 states the President acts as the honorary President of the PRC, all 30 board members of the humanitarian body are elected to four-year terms.
This includes “those appointed by the President of the Philippines, renewable at the pleasure of the appointing power or elective bodies,” as stated in Section 7 of RA 10072.
Red Cross officers are elected from members of the Board and serve two-year terms and may be reelected, the same section provides.
But Gadon also noted that under RA 10072, the PRC is tasked to submit an annual report of its accomplishments and financial status to the President.
Duterte and Gordon are currently at loggerheads over the conduct of a Senate probe into the overpricing of face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the center of the probe of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which Gordon chairs, is former Undersecretary Christopher Lao, who headed the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management and procured the supposed overpriced supplies worth over P8 billion.
According to Gadon, the presidential appointees have failed to submit an annual report to President Duterte, the PRC’s honorary chairman.
The anti-corruption advocate said the President should now name a new set of appointees if the PRC website has been displaying the correct information that the current board of nine officers and 20 members have a two-year term that would have ended in 2020.
“The President has already aired serious doubts about Gordon’s capability in heading PRC. The have been doubts over the use of Red Cross funds and this has already been stated by President Duterte,” explained Gadon.
While the PRC website did not indicate who among the board members are presidential appointees, Gordon and five others are incumbent public officials.
The others are Senators Zubiri and Gatchalian, Chairperson Rachel Arenas of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, Governor Cua, and University of the Philippines President Danilo Concepcion.
“Being the appointing authority, President Duterte has the authority to revoke and recall Gordon’s appointment to the PRC board on the basis of loss of trust and confidence,” explained Gadon.
“Also, I believe the president has the right to demand the auditing of PRC financial transactions, including the overall health of its finances, considering the huge amount of public funds being given by the government to the organization to support its humanitarian and charitable programs,” he added.