(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, April 28, said former Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say lied when he said he resigned from the Department of Labor and Employment to spare the agency from any “pro-management” criticisms.
In a speech before the Filipino community in Singapore, Duterte said it was he who told Say to resign after he received a complaint from a recruiter from DOLE.
“Ang problema nito, kay Say, is he hoisted a lie before the public when asked what was the reason why he resigned and said hindi kami magkaintindihan in the formulation of endo. He was not part of it, actually,” he said.
He said he told Say to retract his statement or else he would release the recruiter’s affidavit against him.
“Sabi ko you sign an affidavit in my presence and I will take care of the guy,” he said.
Say announced on Tuesday, April 17, that he submitted his resignation letter on April 9 so that Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III could be spared from accusations he was pro-management in the issue of contractualization.
His announcement comes on the same day President Duterte announced he had sacked over corruption allegations “a set of officials” who he said even asked him to run for the presidency when he was still mayor of Davao.
“We have been reading (reports) that the Secretary is being a softie to management, but that is not true. I decided to step back to give the secretary elbow room,” Say, who was a member of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said.
He said Bello directed him and and Labor Undersecretary Joel Maglunsod to ensure the regularization of 300,000 workers.
“I won’t be standing in the way for the Secretary to meet this target, as 300,000 is not a small number,” he said.