President Rodrigo Duterte in his public address on Monday night announced the names of lawmakers allegedly involved in corruption within the government. These came from the list of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).
President Duterte clarified that the reading of the names is “not a condemnation or indictment that [they] are guilty of something.”
“This is not indictment, this is not to destroy you, but be careful because you might… It works both ways. There might be somebody using your name or gumagawa hindi mo alam pagkatapos nire-report doon (or someone doing it without your knowledge and then report it),” he explained.
Among the members of the Lower House of Congress named were Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato, former Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat, Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza, Isabela Rep. Alyssa Sheena Tan, Quezon Rep. Angelina Helen Tan, ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Yap, and Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman.
Several officials and district engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were also included in the list for their alleged involvement in anomalous transactions. They have been relieved from duty effective December 29.
The Chief Executive also requested DPWH Secretary Mark Villar to provide him a list of all district engineers and their assigned districts, saying that he “will reorganize the assignments.” – Report from Naomi Tiburcio