MANILA — An undersecretary may be fired this week, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday following the announcement of President Rodrigo R. Duterte early this month that he will kick out another government executive.
“I know there is (an undersecretary) scheduled to be fired. I’m not sure if it has been announced,” Roque said in a TV interview.
“I said my next Palace briefing is scheduled on Thursday. So maybe, that’s when I make the formal announcement,” he added.
Asked if the scheduled firing of an undersecretary is related to the resignation of Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say, Roque said that it was best to ask him.
“What I know is he resigned, but I don’t know if there was a threat he would be sacked,” Roque said.
In an interview, Say revealed that he submitted his courtesy resignation to the President through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea last March 9 and was accepted by Malacañang on Tuesday.
Say did not explain the reason for his resignation, noting that he would rather spare Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III from intrigues.
“I will spare the Secretary from intrigues that he is pro-labor based on what I read that he is supposedly (a) softie on management. That is not true.
So I just decided, okay, I’ll step back. Give the Secretary somebody who can deliver better than I can,” Say said.
“For the reasons that I have relayed to Secretary Silvestre Bello III in a letter addressed to him this same day, I am hereby tendering my courtesy resignation effective upon your approval of the same,” he said in his resignation letter.
The outgoing labor official said he will return to the private sector after his stint in government.
Last April 7, Duterte said another government official will be sacked over loss of trust and confidence.
“I’ll be firing about one undersecretary, one after the other. I’ll finish them off,” Duterte said during a dinner with Cabinet officials at Sofitel.
Duterte made the statement the same day he accepted the resignation of former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who was replaced by Menardo Guevarra, the former Senior Deputy Executive Secretary.
The President first mentioned his desire for a Cabinet revamp after expressing disappointment over the decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss the drug charges against businessman Peter Lim and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
The President has mentioned several times that he would not think twice about firing officials involved in corruption. (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
