Ridon, commissioners on urban poor to get the axe

By Rosemarie A. Zamora

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will fire all commissioners of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) due to alleged corruption in government, his spokesman said on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press conference the commissioners failed to meet as a “collegial body” and were “notorious for junkets abroad.”

“So, this kind of work performance has no place in the Duterte administration. We reiterate we are serious about the drive against corruption in government,” he said.

The commission is currently headed by former Kabataan party-list representative Terry L. Ridon and includes commissioners Melissa A. Aradanas, Noe B. Indonto, Joan A. Lagunda, and Manuel L. Serra, Jr.

In just a year into his presidency, Mr. Duterte has fired several officials, including a number of leading supporters, due to reports and complaints of corruption.

Mr. Duterte’s latest announcement came weeks after the government terminated talks with communist rebels and on the heels of his proclamation classifying them as terrorists.

Asked whether Mr. Ridon’s association with the Left was a factor for his relief, Mr. Roque said, “I doubt it because the two grounds mentioned to me by the President is that it’s a collegial body and they don’t appear to be working as a collegial body and junkets of the commissioners.”

In a separate speech Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Duterte also claimed that Mr. Ridon has been going out of the country seven times.

“Si Ridon iyong chairperson (Ridon, the chairperson), although he thanked me when he was…appointed and maybe ako naman (perhaps for my part, I have) no personal reasons really to fire him except that he had too much too soon,” he said at the conferment ceremony of the 2016 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities.

“He was appointed September, he traveled seven times. And to think (his) office is an urban poor agency, I simply cannot understand why you have to be there. Every powwow in the international scene. He cannot afford it,” Mr. Duterte also said.

Sought for comment, Mr. Ridon said: “We had represented government and given voice to the urban poor in international conferences on public housing, poverty alleviation and climate change, which was unprecedented in any administration.”

“We performed our mandate to the best of our abilities, with integrity and competence, despite the heavy burden of undertaking genuine reform,” he added.

On matters relating to his alleged junkets abroad, Mr. Ridon defended that “the trips were covered by Travel Authorities issued by the Office of the President and recommended by the Office of the Cabinet Secretary involving international conferences relevant to the urban poor, poverty alleviation public housing and climate change.”

“Further, these conferences involved a multi-agency delegation, including agencies under the Office of the President like PCUP,” he added.

In 2016, Mr. Duterte appointed to his Cabinet personalities associated with the Left such as Judy M. Taguiwalo as social welfare secretary and Rafael V. Mariano as agrarian reform secretary. But both were ultimately rejected by the Commission on Appointments.

The only leftist in Mr. Duterte’s official family is Secretary Liza L. Maza of the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

Sought for comment, Ms. Maza said in a text message: “With the non-confirmation of secretaries Judy Taguiwalo and Rafael Mariano, I was already the last remaining member of the President Duterte’s Cabinet associated with the Left. I was resolved then to continue to defend the rights of the Filipino poor within the administration, and will continue to do so for as long as I remain in this position.”

Mr. Duterte has also threatened to investigate the president of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), lawyer Elba S. Cruz.

In a letter dated Dec. 10, DAP employees wrote to Mr. Duterte to call for Ms. Cruz’s ouster, in part because of her alleged foreign travels every month, “depriving the Academy of executive time for physically managing the Academy.”

Employees also cited numerous gross and deliberate violations of civil service rules on designation of non-plantilla personnel to supervise plantilla personnel, unauthorized restructuring and creation of offices in the Academy, and the continuing threat to remove employees and personnel.

“She uses threat to silence anyone who dares to question her policies and action. Mass termination and non-renewal of the appointments and service agreements of the personnel are imminent,” the letter reads.

“Well, it was made in a very public manner. And I’m sure the President will investigate this particular complaint,” Mr. Roque said.

“As you can see, the President does not take issues of corruption sitting down,” he added.