{"id":251122,"date":"2020-04-03T22:34:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T02:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=251122"},"modified":"2020-04-03T22:34:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T02:34:54","slug":"duterte-axes-pacc-exec-over-call-to-probe-robredo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/04\/03\/duterte-axes-pacc-exec-over-call-to-probe-robredo\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte axes PACC exec over call to probe Robredo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) Compound in Malaca\u00f1ang Park on March 24, 2020. TOTO LOZANO\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte announced Friday that he has fired an official of the presidential anti-corruption body for urging the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe Vice President Maria Leonor \u201cLeni\u201d Robredo for supposedly competing with the national government\u2019s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.<\/p>\n

In an address aired on state-run PTV-4 late Friday night, Duterte said Commissioner Manuelito Luna is no longer part of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).<\/p>\n

The President made the pronouncement as he slammed Luna for being \u201cstupid\u201d in saying that Robredo may have violated certain laws for receiving donations to help people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cNgayon, ito naman may tao akong abugado sa<\/em>\u00a0PACC, Commissioner Manuelito Luna.\u00a0Gusto niyang paimbestigahan si<\/em>\u00a0Leni\u00a0kung<\/em>\u00a0bakit nag<\/em>-solicit.\u00a0Anak ka ng… Kaya ako nung narinig ko, sabi ko<\/em>, \u2018Fire him.\u2019 (Now, PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna, a lawyer, wanted Leni to be investigated for soliciting donations. Son of a… When I heard about that, I said, \u2018Fire him.\u2019) As of this moment, he is no longer connected with government,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday, Luna questioned Robredo\u2019s initiatives to provide free shuttle services and temporary lodging for health workers, as well as her donations of personal protective equipment to hospitals.<\/p>\n

Luna claimed Robredo may have breached the law that created the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council; the Solicitation Permit Law and related issuances; and the protocols approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.<\/p>\n

Duterte, however, said there was nothing wrong with Robredo\u2019s initiatives to help his administration step up the fight against Covid-19.<\/p>\n

He said that while he is not in good terms with Robredo, he appreciates the latter\u2019s efforts to stop the further spread of Covid-19 in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeni was calling the private sector\u00a0na mag-tulong<\/em>\u00a0(to help the government).\u00a0Nag-hingi siya ng tulong. Tama iyan, mag-hingi ka sa kapwa mo tao, sa mahirap<\/em>\u00a0(She asked for help. That is right. Ask for help for the people, especially the poor),\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

The President noted that Robredo did not commit anything wrong.<\/p>\n

He also threatened to order the dismissal of NBI officials, in case they heed Luna\u2019s call to conduct an investigation against Robredo.<\/p>\n

\u201dNag-ano nga ng tulong, bakit mo pa-imbestigahan? Saka yung\u00a0<\/em>NBI\u00a0niyan, mag-imbestiga niyan, pati kayo isali ko sa<\/em>\u00a0dismissal.\u00a0Mga ignorante kayo<\/em>\u00a0(She offered help, why would you have her investigated? If the NBI conducts a probe, I will dismiss them as well. You are ignorant),\u201d Duterte said. \u201cItong panahon na ito na wala namang kasalanan ang<\/em>\u00a0vice president (The vice president did not make any mistake this time).\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday, PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica said Luna\u2019s statement against Robredo was not the anti-corruption body\u2019s stance but was merely his colleague\u2019s personal opinion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte announced Friday that he has fired an official of the presidential anti-corruption body for urging the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":249812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251122","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\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251124,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251122\/revisions\/251124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}