Rody to Sueno: You’re fired

DILG chief sacked for corruption

MANILA, Philippines - In 2015, Ismael Sueno was one of the people who pushed Rodrigo Duterte to seek the presidency.

On Monday night, President Duterte announced at the end of his Cabinet meeting that he was firing Sueno as secretary of the interior and local government amid accusations of corruption, questionable wealth and abuse of power.

“You’re fired. I simply said, you’re fired,” Duterte disclosed last night before a gathering at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

No replacement was announced, but among those reportedly being considered is defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Vice President Leni Robredo expressed concern about this possibility.

Duterte said he is still looking for a replacement. There are reports that another ranking official is set to be axed.

“I lost my temper,” Duterte said. “If you answer me… that you never read the opinion of your legal officer of your own office, it’s either you are taking me for stupid, an idiot or you are lying through your teeth.”

He was referring to Sueno’s claim of being unaware of the legal opinion on the contract for the purchase of fire trucks from Austria. 

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella had a milder version of the incident. He said the President told Sueno, “I have to let you go.”

Sueno was the second Cabinet official forced out of office in less than a year after Perfecto Yasay Jr. of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“President Duterte has dismissed Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Mr. Ismael Sueno, citing loss of trust and confidence,” Abella said.

“The President had earlier asked a few questions of 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 said.

“The secretary had, in fact, been instrumental in convincing the President to run for election, but this did not deter the President from pursuing his drive for a trustworthy government by addressing issues like corruption,” he added.

Another Cabinet official reportedly faces dismissal, but Palace officials refused to identify the official.

Sueno’s dismissal came a few months after the sacking of Peter Laviña as chief of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) also due to alleged corruption.

Yasay had to step down last month after the Commission on Appointments rejected his appointment. 

“But I think, more than the details of the situation, I think we need to take into more serious account the implication of this thing that it was done in a sense publicly in front of all the Cabinet members,” he added.

Sueno’s relief came after three of his undersecretaries – John Castriciones (operations), Jesus Hinlo (public safety) and Emilie Padilla (legislative liaison and special concerns) – informed the President in a letter of Sueno’s alleged involvement in corruption.

The then DILG secretary, however, responded with a letter to Duterte detailing his sentiments and citing “irreconcilable differences” with his subordinates.

The turn of events, Abella said, has proven that “the President is very serious in restoring trust in the government.”

“You know, he has said this again and again. One of the problems of the Philippines is that the Filipinos have lost trust in the government. But by addressing it so firmly and with decisiveness, it just goes to show how deeply invested the President is in nation building. I think that is of more importance,” he said.

He stressed the President’s decision came after he checked reports reaching his office.

“Apparently, the President has done due diligence and so he has checked into the matter and some people – some, you know, and apparently he has taken note of several legally untenable situations,” he said.

“I think we have to give him credit and really understand and put in it context that what he’s really actually doing is restoring trust in the government,” Abella said, referring to the President.

“Apparently for the longest time, the people have become, in a sense, hopeless about the situation. But he is actually empowering the Filipino people once more by giving them a trustworthy government. It’s quite a challenge,” Abella added.

Among the issues raised against Sueno are his supposed abuse of power, questionable wealth, his alleged acquisition of a new hotel, his grandson’s alleged involvement in illegal gambling and a questionable fire truck deal with the Austrian government.

Sueno said he pursued the fire truck contract with the Austrian government and personally went to Austria despite a pending case with the Supreme Court (SC) against it since it was already a “done deal” during the time of former interior secretary Mar Roxas.

He explained that losing bidders normally question the winning bid before the SC.

He added that Austria’s Rosenbauer fire trucks had more accessories than those offered by a Chinese competitor.

Tense meeting

 A source said the atmosphere during the Cabinet meeting Monday night – the 14th under the Duterte administration – was rather tense and different as the President was visibly angry, a demeanor uncharacteristic of him in usual Cabinet discussions.

A teary-eyed Sueno reportedly tried hard and would have wanted to explain his side to the President, but Duterte would not hear any of it and walked straight out of the dining hall, leaving Cabinet officials stunned.

Many of the Cabinet members had thought the President just stood up for a restroom break, the source disclosed, until he said: “By the way, this meeting is adjourned,” as he was a step or two from the door.

The source said Sueno ran after the President asking him, “Could I see you Sir after this meeting?” Sueno even left his coat on his chair as he tried to catch up with the President, the source added.

However, the President refused to hear Sueno out.

“No, I cannot talk to you because we will just argue and my mind is made up,” Duterte, who was still angry, was quoted to have told Sueno just as he was stepping out of the dining hall.

The Cabinet members were reportedly not prepared for what happened to Sueno that night, even if the President had already confronted him after the usual opening prayers.

The source said the President started the Cabinet meeting by asking Sueno pointblank about certain things, including his trip to Austria last January.

“We thought that if ever Sueno would be dismissed, it would be in the form of a statement released to media or in any other way but not that confrontational. The President really stood his ground in firing Sueno,” The STAR source said.

The Cabinet meeting went on with every item in the agenda discussed.

“We never thought the President would fire him that way. Maybe he was still mulling to dismiss Sueno or not because it took him the entire Cabinet meeting before he delivered the message in the end, that Sueno was dismissed as DILG chief,” another source said.

What gives?

But as early as September last year the President had been heard talking about reports that Sueno was allegedly collecting from jueteng operators in Luzon.

Duterte also reportedly knew of other alleged money making activities of Sueno that supposedly enabled him to build a new hotel in South Cotabato as well as buy trucks to improve his farm in the area.

The President reportedly also mentioned Sueno’s trip to Austria.

Sueno and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)’s officer-in-charge, Chief Supt. Bobby Baruelo, visited the headquarters and factory of Rosenbauer International AG in Austria from Jan. 11 to 13 accompanied by other officials from the DILG and BFP.

Rosenbauer, the world’s largest manufacturer of firefighting vehicles, is the contracted supplier of the DILG-BFP Capacity Building Program funded by the Austrian government through a mixed grant-loan package.

Sources said it was not the letter of the three undersecretaries that broke the camel’s back – so to speak – and finally convinced Duterte to fire Sueno.

“There are other things that could have made the President decide (to do) so,” a source said.

But Sueno’s regular interaction with Duterte came only after the latter’s election as president. Before the elections, Sueno – who is from South Cotabato – would hang out at the Elena Hotel in Davao City where Duterte would usually meet different people, including politicians.

It was Sueno’s position as PDP-Laban chair that Duterte assumed on Feb. 9, 2016. Through the years, Duterte’s dealings with the PDP-Laban were only through former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and his son Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.

Sueno was also seen frequently at the lobby of Marco Polo Hotel Davao, apparently trying to get an audience with Duterte before his inauguration on June 30 last year.

But as the President told Sueno Monday night, it was time to part ways.

In a statement issued Monday, hours before his sacking, Sueno, 69, vigorously denied any involvement in corruption, blaming other followers of Duterte for circulating such allegations against him.

“My advocacy against corruption has been strong. My belief is the same as President Duterte in fighting this. So this accusation against me is impossible,” said Sueno, a former provincial governor and city mayor.

No sign of trouble

Asked if Sueno might face further charges, Abella told reporters: “Let us wait for the President to take his subsequent actions.”

Abella said the loss of another Cabinet member was not a sign of trouble but proof of Duterte’s seriousness about restoring trust in government.

In Congress, two other close Duterte allies, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., have been publicly feuding for weeks, with Duterte trying to stay out of the quarrel.

Alvarez has accused Floirendo, a key contributor in the Duterte election campaign, of corruption, but Floirendo has denied the charge.

Duterte won election by a landslide in May largely on his promise to launch a war on illegal drugs.

Although the campaign has proved to be popular at home, the President has faced international criticism for thousands of extrajudicial killings that human rights advocates say were carried out as part of the anti-drug initiative. The government denies the allegations.

Duterte’s allies in the House of Representatives lauded his decision, with Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon calling it a demonstration of “remarkable political will.”

He said it was a tough move for Duterte, “considering that the Cabinet member was a prime mover in the electoral campaign of the President, occupying a top sensitive post.

“Trust and confidence of a president in his appointee should be absolute. This is an example of appointees serving at the pleasure of the president. Importantly, it shows his intolerance of corruption within his administration,” he added.

For Duterte’s lawmaker-nephews – Reps. Karlo Alexei and Jericho Nograles – his sacking of Sueno has shown he means business.

“The President is sending a very strong message – the President is not corrupt, and he will not tolerate any corruption in government. Simple loss of trust and confidence is enough reason for him to let you go,” Karlo stressed.

“Bosom buddies, allies, even those instrumental in his election campaign – like the President said, even a whiff of a scandal he will not hesitate to kick you out,” Karlo, chairman of the House appropriations committee, added.

Jericho, who represents the party-list Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA), agreed. “Cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the President. Period. This event should serve as enough notice to all people in this administration that no one is indispensible.

“You have to work hard and honestly without any whiff of corruption if you want to continue serving under this administration,” he added.

Post-Sueno worries

Robredo’s legal adviser Barry Gutierrez said the removal of Sueno might be a prelude to the appointment of Marcos as DILG chief, noting the lapse in June of the one-year ban on appointments of losing candidates in the last elections.

“It is definitely concerning,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

“Marcos as DILG secretary can be ironically appropriate. Why not another Marcos to preside over an attempt to suspend the right to vote, reinstall rule by executive fiat and maybe pave the way to authoritarianism?” he said.

“This is all considering the administration’s move to cancel the barangay elections and appoint, instead of elect, barangay officials, along with the myriad of responsibilities and powers of the secretary of DILG,” Gutierrez added.

Robredo defeated Marcos in the 2016 vice presidential race by a slim margin. Marcos has a pending electoral protest against her victory.

For Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Sueno’s firing was a “convenient excuse” for President Duterte to appoint in his place an ally who had lost in the elections. He said Sueno’s removal “opened the door for someone who’s coming in this May.” Trillanes did not name whom he thought was being groomed as next DILG chief.

“That’s (firing of Sueno) just political convenience and they’ll insist that it’s an anti-corruption thing,” Trillanes told the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

He said if Duterte was really serious about fighting corruption, he would have already fired Tourism Promotions Board chief Cesar Montano and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who were both linked to anomalies.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who lost in the vice presidential elections, is reportedly being considered for a Cabinet post in May.  – Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero, AFP