Roque says RJ Nieto’s request for his removal as Palace Spox to be relayed to Duterte

 

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday that he will relay to President Rodrigo Duterte that Thinking Pinoy account owner RJ Nieto wants him to be removed from the position.

“What I will do is I will facilitate receipt of this information by the President. I will tell the President that Mr. Nieto has said that I should be removed. I will relay that to the President,” Roque stated in Malacañang Press Briefing.

Roque added that Nieto should address it to the President since the President appointed him.

“Well, it’s a matter that he should address to the President because the President appointed me,” he said.

“We serve at the pleasure of the President. All Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the President,” Roque added.

“The President gave me two marching orders: Do what is right and stay to the truth,” Roque answered when asked about the reaction of President Duterte’s supporters on his statement regarding media freedom.

“I stated what I think is right, and I stated what I think is true. I am a spokesperson, I deal with the Malacañang Press Corps and I have long been an advocate of freedom of expression. I leave it at that,” he added.

Roque clarified that he did not deprived the freedom of social bloggers.

“That’s the nature of this freedom. I do not deprive the social bloggers of their freedoms as well, and I take all the criticisms as valid inputs in the free marketplace of ideas.”

Recently, Nieto said that Roque’s appointment as spokesperson was a “big mistake” after Spox Roque appealed to President Duterte’s supporters on Friday to refrain legitimate journalists from attacks. | (Angelica Bobiles – PTV)