Bello backs Diokno

“I join the rest of the members of the Cabinet in our full support for him,” he said in a statement issued on Friday. (PNA FILE PHOTO)

MANILA — Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III has joined other members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet in giving full support to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

“I join the rest of the members of the Cabinet in our full support for him,” he said in a statement issued on Friday.

The DOLE chief noted that he knows the head of the DBM as a man of honesty and integrity.

“I have known Secretary Ben Diokno to be a man of honesty and integrity,” he said.

“His performance is beyond the standard and diligence above par,” Bello added.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday adopted a resolution, calling on Duterte to reconsider Diokno’s appointment as they questioned the supposed insertion of PHP75-billion into the proposed budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways for 2019.

For his part, the DBM head noted that there is nothing irregular in the allocation increase.

On Thursday, Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the President still trusts Diokno.