{"id":164384,"date":"2018-05-21T08:53:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T12:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=164384"},"modified":"2018-05-21T23:00:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T03:00:27","slug":"cesar-montano-resigns-from-tpb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/05\/21\/cesar-montano-resigns-from-tpb\/","title":{"rendered":"Cesar Montano resigns from TPB"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_93756\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-93756\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-93756\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cThe Secretary is still on an official trip. She is, however, aware of the complaints filed recently against TPB COO Cesar Montano. The Department will await for the results of the investigation being conducted by PACE (Presidential Action Center),\u201d De Castro said. (Photo: Department of Tourism\/ Facebook)\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/15591546_1572975896062610_5822179276905813517_o-1024x731.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-93756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE: Montano earlier said that the said project was &#8220;endorsed&#8221; by the previous DOT Secretary then, Wanda Tulfo-Teo, who has also resigned (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DepartmentOfTourism\/photos\/a.197422286951318.60358.197186436974903\/1572975896062610\/?type=3&amp;amp;theater\">Photo<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DepartmentOfTourism\">Department of Tourism\/ Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After the \u201cBuhay Carinderia\u201d project was suspended, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Cesar Montano, resigned on May 21, Monday.<\/p>\n<p>GMA reported that the Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat accepted Montano\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n<p>His resignation came days after meeting with Puyat, to discuss the controversy of the culinary project which seeks to promote local eateries, involving a P80 million sponsorship deal with Mary Lindbert International Incorporated.<\/p>\n<p>Upon Puyat\u2019s ordered investigation of Buhay Carinderia, it was found that the TPB issued checks worth P80 million in less than a month, even when the project has not started yet. Buhay Carinderia, which had a total budget of P320 million, was confirmed to not have undergone any proper bidding.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Walang<\/em> bidding <em>pero may<\/em> sponsorship. <em>Ako kasi mas komportable ako na may<\/em> bidding (There was no bidding, but there was a sponsorship. For me, I am more comfortable if there is a bidding),&#8221; she said in an interview with CNN Philippines.<\/p>\n<p>Puyat also stressed this in a press briefing on May 17, Thursday, saying, \u201cSince I am now the Chair, <em>gusto ko may<\/em> bidding. <em>Gusto ko lahat<\/em> transparent. <em>Hindi ako komportable na ibibigay ang<\/em> first tranche <em>na<\/em> P80 million <em>sa isang tao lang<\/em> (Since I am now the Chair, I want there to be a bidding. I want everything to be transparent. I am not comfortable to give the first tranche of P80 million to just one person).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the actor has resigned from his post, Puyat earlier said in a press briefing on May 17, Thursday that he did not need to resign since his term will expire this June. The DOT Secretary also mentioned that under the Tourism Act of 2009, the Tourism Congress will nominate a new chief.<\/p>\n<p>Montano earlier said that the said project was \u201cendorsed\u201d by the previous DOT Secretary then, Wanda Tulfo-Teo, who has also resigned.<\/p>\n<p>This was not the first time for Montano\u2019s name to be dragged into corruption allegations. In March last year, TPB employees filed a complaint against him, alleging that he has been mismanaging the board, misusing funds, being incompetent, and other irregularities.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the President Bong Go confirmed that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte accepted Montano&#8217;s &#8220;courtesy resignation.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the \u201cBuhay Carinderia\u201d project was suspended, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Cesar Montano, resigned &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":93756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1145,16,95],"tags":[40745,51099,3273,51098],"class_list":["post-164384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-bernadette-romulo-puyat","tag-buhay-carinderia","tag-cesar-montano","tag-mary-lindbert-international-incorporate","mauthors-bea-kirstein-t-manalaysay","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164384","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=164384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}