MANILA, Philippines (9:50 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat as the new Department of Tourism secretary, replacing Wanda Tulfo-Teo who resigned from office following a multimillion-peso advertisement controversy.
Puyat has been undersecretary for Agribusiness and Marketing, and Regional Engagement since July 2017 and was undersecretary for special comcerns during the Aquino administration.
She was also a consultant with the Presidential Magement Staff during the Arroyo administration.
According to reports, Puyat has bachelor's and master's degrees in Economics from the University of the Philippines, where she also taught for nine years.
Teo's resignation
It was reported on Tuesday that Duterte asked Teo to hand in her resignation following a Commission on Audit report flagging the P60-million advertisement placement the Tourism department placed on the show of her brothers Ben Tulfo and Erwin Tulfo through People's Television Network Inc.
COA said that the transaction did not have the needed documents including one that authorized the broadcaster to receive money from the DOT and remit it to Ben Tulfo's Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc. which produced the show.
When asked to confirm Puyat's appointment, a source familiar with developments in the department told Philstar.com: "Yes."
Duterte, in a speech before newly promoted generals and flag officers, said that he had just fired an official due to corruption, in a possible reference to Teo's removal.
However, Teo's lawyer and spokesman, Ferdinand Topacio, maintained early Tuesday that the chief executive did not demand her client's resignation and that the controversial former DOT chief did not resign.
Hours later, Teo, through Topacio, announced that she was leaving Duterte's cabinet.
Despite Duterte's dismissal of some officials supposedly due to irregularities, the government has not filed any case against these individuals.
The president has also shown propensity to reappoint officials who resigned following allegations of wrongdoing in office.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also announced that it is launching a probe into the deal and asked a Field Investigation Office to initiate a fact-finding probe.