(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, May 9, said he was “very sad” the very first persons “to go” from his government were the ones who prodded him to run for the presidency in the first place.
“Early on, a Cabinet member,” he said after the presentation of the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes and coins at the Reception Hall of Malacañang.
Duterte was apparently referring to then-Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, whom he sacked over an allegedly anomalous firetruck contract.
“But just the same, tayo sa gobyerno, there is no way of telling. Yung maglapit sa ‘yo na ganun and you thought you might ever fall into the trap of believing you are with the crowd for change,” Duterte said.
The President made the remark a day after Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo announced her resignation.
Her resignation came after the Commission on Audit red-flagged the Department of Tourism’s placement of advertisements worth P60 million in the PTV program hosted by Teo’s brothers, Erwin and Ben Tulfo.
A media report cited sources as saying Duterte had asked Teo to resign, but Teo’s lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, denied that this had been the case.