Sotto: Duterte talked about sacking Sueno as early as two weeks ago

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte had already talked about firing Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno days before he officially sacked him at the end of a Cabinet meeting.

This is according to Senator Tito Sotto, majority floor leader, who said he “already overheard” this during their trip to Myanmar and Thailand two weeks ago.

“As I told one of you and I told you off the record then, I knew the (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary was going because I overheard it from the President himself,” he said.

“He knows. There (is) information that has reached him that we do not know. Bottomline is he has lost trust (in) his employees or his appointees. As long as he has lost trust, wag na nating pagusapan kung ano ang mga alam niya na information tungkol sa taong yun,” he added.

He noted that it was the President’s “prerogative” to fire since he is “the appointing power.”

Before sacking a government official, though, Sotto said he was “sure” the President “validate(d)” the complaint against him or her first. With a report from Meanne Corvera