FORMER Dangerous Drugs Board chief Dionisio Santiago was fired not only because of running against President Rodrigo Duterte himself, but also for supposedly going on “extravagant” junkets abroad and receiving gifts from an alleged narco-politician, Malacañang said Monday.
“I would like to confirm that General Santiago was let go by the President not only because of his statements on the mega rehab centers being a mistake,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said of the former military chief, during a news briefing in Malacañang.
“He was also let go because of complaints, that General Santiago was using taxpayers’ money for junkets abroad. There were also complaints that General Santiago may have accepted consideration from major drug players,” he added.
Roque said while the complaints against Santiago have yet to be resolved, these were “overtaken by events because the President himself said that he decided to fire General Santiago because of his statement that the mega drug facility is a mistake.”
In a complaint dated Oct. 25 by a certain Priscilla Herrera, a member of the DDB’s employees’ union — Santiago allegedly brought six of his favored DDB employees and his “girl Friday and coffee server” named Edith Julie Mendoza last September to Vienna, Austria to attend “an ordinary Narcotic Drug Intercessional meeting at the government’s expense.”
According to the same complaint, Santiago allegedly went to the United States along with his mistress and selected ‘favorite’ DDB employees “purportedly on official business where their expenses have been charged against DDB funds.”
“For your information, for both meetings, attendance only requires the presence of the DDB chairman in the official invitation sent by the UN Secretariat and nothing more,” the complaint read.
“This is an extravagant use of government resources and abuse of authority.”
The employees’ union likewise slammed the designation of former Dangerous Drugs Board Benjamin Reyes as acting Chairman of the DDB while Santiago was on a ‘junket spree,’ despite getting sacked by Duterte himself for earlier contradicting the government position that there were four million drug users in the Philippines.
“Mr. Reyes despite your order of dismissal have (sic) been continously performing his job and receiving his salaries and allowances at the DDB without a valid appointment up to the present,” the letter read.
“Mr. Reyes continuous stay is being allowed and tolerated by no less than Gen. Santiago in defiance to (sic) a Presidential order of dismissal.”
The same complaint also accused Santiago of receiving a house gift from the Parojinog family of Ozamiz, who are accused of coddling illegal drug personalities in their jurisdiction.
“Can he be an effective chairman of the DDB as he is being reportedly, protector of a drug syndicate? We doubt it Mr. President,” read the complaint.
Several members of the Parojinog family, including patriarch Reynaldo Sr., were killed in a raid in their houses in July this year.
Last Saturday, the President hinted he would fire government officials who went on unsanctioned foreign trips, or ‘junkets’ using government money.
Duterte, who used to praise Santiago for giving him an idea on the extent of the country’s drug problem admitted getting offended when he branded the mega-drug rehabilitation center efforts of his administration as a “miscalculation.”
He also berated him for not telling the problem beforehand and instead speaking his thoughts to the media.