(Eagle News) — The Palace on Friday, Jan. 18, denied former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ allegations corrupt officials were being “recycled.”
In the first place, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the officials who were either removed or resigned from their posts and appointed to other positions were “not tainted with corruption during their stint in their offices.”
“It just happened that their expertise and talents were not suited to their previous positions; hence, their re-appointment to their present offices that will showcase their competence,” Panelo said, adding that this was the “presidential prerogative inherent to President Duterte’s power as head of the Executive branch.”
According to Panelo, those who have not been reappointed, on the other hand, were “stained with corruption…
“..And they included long time friends, allies, fraternity brods and relations..As we have stressed before, there are no sacred cows in this administration,” Panelo said.
As for Morales’ disappointment over the dismissal of cases in the Sandiganbayan, Panelo said “the courts decide on the basis of evidence and we must accept its verdict no matter how much we disagree with it.”
“We cannot be ruled by our emotions, otherwise there will be chaos,” he said.
President Duterte, who won the 2016 elections on a platform against corruption, has been sacking officials who have been accused of the same and of going on excessive travels.
These include then-Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chair Terry Ridon, who have not been reappointed.
