President Rodrigo Duterte has sacked two top officials from the country’s military forces over their alleged involvement in corruption, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced.
On August 13, Monday, the spokesman said that Duterte “ordered the relief and court-martial proceedings” against Brig. Gen. Edwin Leo Torrelavega, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Health Services Command (AFP-HSC) and Col. Antonio Punzalan, commander of the V. Luna Medical Center.
The president made this move after he went through reports that contained information of the supposed corruption committed by the officials.
Roque said that in the report from the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission and AFP chief of staff General Carlito Galvez Jr., the high- ranking officials “undertook anomalous purchases of equipment and engaged in fraudulent transactions, including ghost purchasing, splitting of contracts to circumvent mandatory bidding processes, and conceiving of fictitious suppliers.”
Just hours before Roque announced the firing of the officials, in an interview with ANC, he said that Duterte was “really aggrieved at this particular instance of corruption” because the military institution is “close to his heart.”
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 08/ 13 /18)