{"id":132471,"date":"2017-11-20T02:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T07:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=132471"},"modified":"2017-11-20T02:45:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T07:45:12","slug":"santiago-fired-for-junkets-abroad-receiving-favors-from-drug-players-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/11\/20\/santiago-fired-for-junkets-abroad-receiving-favors-from-drug-players-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Santiago fired for \u2018junkets abroad, receiving favors from drug players\u2019\u2014 Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a>
President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed former Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Dionisio Santiago from his post due to a complaint regarding junkets abroad and accepting favors from drug lords, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Monday. (Photo<\/a>: Gen Dionisio R Santiago\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed former Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Dionisio Santiago from his post due to a complaint regarding junkets abroad and accepting favors from drug lords, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Monday.<\/p>\n

This was confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque during a Malaca\u00f1ang press briefing.<\/p>\n

“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,” Roque said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was also being let go because of complaints that General Santiago was using tax payers\u2019 money for junkets abroad. In addition to bringing family members, Santiago brought six of his closest personnel, including a \u2018girl Friday,\u2019\u201d Roque added.<\/p>\n

According to a letter dated October 25 which was received by the Office of the President, the DDB Employee\u2019s Union (DDB-EU) complained about Santiago\u2019s trips to Vienna, Austria to attend an ordinary meeting on anti-drug enforcement. Included in this delegation was his \u201cgirl Friday and coffee server\u201d named as Edith Julie B. Mendoza.<\/p>\n

DDB-EU also said that Santiago went to the United States with his \u201cmistress and selective favorite DDB employees,\u201d where their expenses have been charged to the DDB\u2019s fund.<\/p>\n

“This is an extravagant use of government resources and an abuse of power,” the letter said.<\/p>\n

Apart from these suspicious trips, Roque said there were also complaints that Santiago may have accepted consideration from major drug players. DDB-EU also added that Santiago was a recipient of a \u201cbig mansion\u201d given by the slain Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog back when he was still the chairperson of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).<\/p>\n

“Can he be an effective Chairman of the DDB as he is being reportedly a protector of a drug syndicate? We doubt it Mr. President,” wrote the DDB employees in their letter.<\/p>\n

The Union also accused Santiago of delegating former DDB chair Benjamin Reyes as acting chairman while he is on a junket spree.<\/p>\n

Reyes was dismissed publicly by the President last May 24, 2017. The employees said, despite Duterte\u2019s order of dismissal, Reyes have been doing his job and receiving his salaries from DDB.<\/p>\n

This announcement came after Duterte said he is set to fire government officials next week who have been traveling abroad without necessary travel order released by his office.<\/p>\n

“It is a very strong message to the bureaucracy: The President will not tolerate junkets, unnecessary travels abroad,” Roque was quoted as saying in a GMA report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shows his resolve against graft and corruption. As far as he is concerned, you don’t even have to be proven. If you’re tainted in any way by corruption, he will not hesitate to fire individuals. He has done so many times in the past and General Santiago is only the latest of them,” Roque added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed former Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Dionisio Santiago from his post due to a complaint regarding …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":132554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1145,16,95],"tags":[14976,31664,978,2444],"class_list":["post-132471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-dangerous-drugs-board","tag-dionisio-santiago","tag-malacanang","tag-rodrigo-duterte","mauthors-joanna-belle-deala","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}