(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said that government officials going on official trips abroad will have to secure permits from his office first.
The President made the announcement after making public his sacking of officials from the Philippine Commission for the Urban Poor.
Duterte said that he had “no personal reasons” to fire Terry Ridon, the chair of the PCUP, noting only that “he had too much too soon.”
“He was appointed in September and traveled seven times. And to think the office is an urban poor agency..I don’t understand why you have to be in every pow-wow (in the international scene),” he said.
He noted that the PCUP, even if it was a collegial body, had “just 1 or 2” meetings.
In a statement, the left-leaning Ridon said that the commission performed its mandate to the best of its ability despite what he said were the difficulties in implementing “genuine reform.”