Neophyte Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go continues to proclaim President Rodrigo Duterte’s total commitment to rid the government of corruption but always sidesteps the inconsistencies in the administration’s supposed all-out campaign against graft and corruption.
STATEMENT
In a July 4 press release, Go, the former special assistant to the president, said Duterte “spares no one” in the fight against corruption. Speaking at the oathtaking of newly-elected officials in Lanao del Sur, he said:
“Halos linggo-linggo may sinisipa siya, kahit na mga tumulong sa kanya noong kampanya (He fires (officials) almost every week, even those who helped him in his campaign).”
Source: Kuya Bong Go, Bong Go seeks to solve housing woes in Marawi, asks Lanao del Sur officials to fight corruption, July 4, 2019
Go has repeated this narrative several times before. In February, he said the Duterte administration “does not tolerate corrupt government officials.” A month later, he said the president will “part ways” with corrupt officials, even those who helped him with his campaign.
FACT
While the president has indeed “parted ways” with several officials, including his appointees, following corruption allegations, Go failed to mention that a number of them were reappointed and/or merely reassigned to other government posts.
Among Duterte’s most recent reappointees are two officials involved in two separate drug smuggling controversies in 2017 and 2018.
Retired military colonel Allen Capuyan has been reappointed four times by Duterte despite being linked in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu from China past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in 2017. Capuyan resigned from his post as assistant general manager at the Manila International Airport Authority in March 2018, citing “future career moves,” amid the smuggling controversy, but was reappointed as Presidential Adviser on Indigenous Peoples’ Concerns only a month later. He was again reassigned as executive director of the National Secretariat of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in March 2019, and again as chair of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in June 2019.
Vener Baquiran, former Manila International Container Port (MICP) district collector, was also reappointed by Duterte despite being fired after P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters slipped past the port in 2018. He was reassigned as BOC deputy commissioner in March 2019.
Baquiran was among the officials the Department of Justice recommended for preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman in April for dereliction of duty, grave misconduct, and failure to execute punishments to officials involved in the MICP drug smuggling incident.
Duterte’s reappointment of axed or resigned officials due to alleged corruption was already pointed out in a fact check by University of the Philippines Journalism Department for Tsek.ph in April, and several other news reports.
Here is a list of officials previously reported to have resigned or were fired due to corruption allegations but were reappointed by Duterte:
Interestingly enough, a number of officials Duterte sacked have yet to face charges. For instance, Ismael Sueno, Duterte’s former Interior Secretary, whom the president himself fired in April 2017 for alleged corruption, has not been officially charged. Sueno denied the accusations.
Interior and Local Government Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya, in an interview with VERA Files on July 10, explained why Duterte is not pursuing charges:
“Ang style niya is iyong pagtanggal sa iyo sa puwesto unceremoniously at nalaman ng lahat na you were fired for corruption is already enough punishment for you. (His style is to remove you from the office unceremoniously, and for everyone to know you were fired for corruption is already enough punishment for you).”
Malaya, however, clarified that Duterte’s “style” does not prevent other offices, such as the Office of the Ombudsman, to file charges against erring officials.
VERA Files has asked the Ombudsman for a list of officials facing charges in court after being dismissed by Duterte due to alleged corruption. The office has yet to respond.
Duterte, in his 2017 State of the Nation Address, stated that he will not tolerate even just a “whiff” of corruption:
“A year ago, I also warned government officials and employees that I will never tolerate corruption in my administration, not even a whiff of it. Let the dismissal of several high-ranking officials — whom I myself appointed — serve as a warning to all that I will never back down on my commitment to cleanse this government…”
Source: RTVMalacañang, 2017 State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2017, watch from 1:55:11 to 1:55:38
Sources
Kuya Bong Go, Bong Go seeks to solve housing woes in Marawi, asks Lanao del Sur officials to fight corruption, July 4, 2019
Kuya Bong Go, Report Corrupt Officials to the Truth and Justice Coalition, Feb. 8, 2019
Kuya Bong Go, Bong Go Vowed to Continue PRRD’s Campaign against Illegal Drugs, Crime, and Corruption, March 6, 2019
RTVM, 2017 State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2017
Jonathan Malaya, Personal Interview, July 10, 2019
Allen Capuyan
- Rappler.com, Allen Capuyan appointed indigenous peoples’ commission chairman, June 4, 2019
- CNN Philippines, Controversial ex-colonel named new IP commission chair, June 4, 2019
- Philippine News Agency, Capuyan assumes IP body chairmanship, June 14, 2019
- Philippine News Agency, Palace defends Capuyan appointment to anti-insurgency office, April 1, 2019
- Manila Bulletin, Duterte names Capuyan as head of anti-insurgency office, March 31, 2019
- Inquirer.net, Palace defends posting of ex-colonel linked to drug smuggling, April 2, 2019
- Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Allen Capuyan is the new presidential adviser on indigenous peoples, April 23, 2018
- ABS-CBN News, ‘Hello, Big Brother’: Ex-ISAFP officer named pres’l adviser on indigenous peoples, April 23, 2018
- GMA News Online, MIAA assistant general manager Allen Capuyan resigns, March 14, 2018
- Department of Transportation official Facebook page, READ: March 14, 2018, March 18, 2018
Vener Baquiran
- Senate of the Philippines, What a Mess: A Dumping Ground of Garbage and Drugs, May 29, 2019
- Rappler.com, Back in Customs: Sacked MICP district collector is new deputy commissioner, May 25, 2019
- ABS-CBN News, Sacked Manila port official, 2 ex-generals are new Customs deputy chiefs, May 25, 2019
- Business Mirror, DOJ indicts ex-PDEA deputy, 7 others for shabu smuggling, April 18, 2019
- Inquirer.net, DOJ files charges vs Fajardo, Acierto, 6 others, April 18, 2019
- Philstar.com, Eduardo Acierto, 2 others charged over shabu shipments, April 18, 2019
Melissa Avancena Aradanas, Joan Lagunda, and Manuel Serra Jr.
- ABS-CBN News, Duterte fires urban poor commission officials due to ‘misdeeds’, Dec. 12, 2017
- Manila Bulletin, Duterte orders firing of urban poor commission officials, Dec. 13, 2017
- Rappler.com, Duterte to fire all execs of Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Dec. 12, 2017
Jose Gabriel “Pompee” La Viña
- Presidential Communications Operations Office, From the Presidential Spokesperson — On the non-renewal of SSS commissioner Jose Gabriel La Viña, Feb. 17, 2018
- Presidential Communications Operations Office, Speech of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the Oath Taking of Newly-Appointed Officials, Feb. 13, 2018
- ABS-CBN News, The President’s ‘termite’: Duterte’s ex-social media strategist gets 3rd gov’t post, June 8, 2018
- GMA News Online, DOT exec Pompee La Viña transferred to DA, June 7, 2018
- Inquirer.net, Duterte transfers DOT exec to DA, June 7, 2018
Nicanor Faeldon
- Presidential Communications Operations Office, From the Presidential Spokesperson – On the Ombudsman’s Fact-Finding Investigation, May 2, 2018
- Office of the Ombudsman, Ombudsman completes fact-finding investigation on Faeldon, et al. on P6.4B shabu smuggling case, May 2, 2018
- ABS-CBN News, Faeldon takes oath as new BuCor chief, Nov. 21, 2018
- Rappler.com, Duterte finally signs Faeldon’s appointment as BuCor Chief, Nov. 20, 2018
- Inquirer.net, Duterte officially appoints Faeldon as BuCor chief, Nov. 21, 2018
- Senate of the Philippines, Senate Committee Report No. 168, Oct. 24, 2017
Milo Maestrecampo and Gerardo Gambala
- Manila Bulletin, Customs official gives up post, Aug. 8, 2017
- Interaksyon, Customs execs, forced to quit amid shabu mess, appointed by Duterte to DOTr, Nov. 10, 2017
- ABS-CBN News, Customs official quits amid corruption allegation, Aug. 8, 2017
-
- ABS-CBN News, Customs deputy commissioner Gambala nagbitiw sa puwesto, Oct. 10, 2017
- GMA News Online, Customs exec Gambala resigns, Oct. 10, 2017
- UNTV, BOC Dep. Comm. Gerardo Gambala resigns from post, Oct. 10, 2017
- CNN Philippines, [EXCLUSIVE] DOTr chief on appointment of disgraced Customs officials: My concern is future performance, Nov. 10, 2017
- Philippine News Agency, Gambala, Maestrecampo lead new batch of Duterte appointees, Nov. 10, 2017
- Inquirer.net, 2 ex-rebel soldiers get new DOTr posts after BOC, Nov. 11, 2019
- Senate.gov.ph, CORRUPTION IN BOC HAS ALLOWED THE ENTRY OF SHABU SHIPMENT – GORDON, Aug. 2, 2018
- Rappler.com, Gordon panel want wants charges against Faeldon, 4 others over P6.4-B smuggled shabu, Oct. 11, 2017
- Inquirer.net, Senate panel wants criminal raps vs Faeldon, et al. over P6.4B shabu shipment, Oct. 10, 2017
Ismael Sueno
- ABS-CBN News, Duterte recounts how he fired Sueno, April 4, 2017
- Inquirer.net, Rejections and dismissals: Duterte’s ever-changing ‘rainbow’ Cabinet, Dec. 26, 2017
- Rappler.com, Duterte’s fight vs corruption: 20 sacked execs face no charges, May 4, 2018
- Department of Interior and Local Government, Sueno: I respect the President’s decision, but I am not corrupt, April 4, 2017
List of Duterte’s appointees
- Rappler.com, LIST: No to corruption? Duterte’s controversial reappointees, June 11, 2018
- Rappler.com, Duterte’s fight vs corruption: 20 sacked execs face no charges, May 4, 2018
- GMA News Online, Sacking of appointees episodes continue to stalk Duterte after past SONA, July 19, 2019
- ABS-CBN News, Duterte and the company he keeps, July 21, 2018
- Interaksyon, Cycle of firing and hiring: Duterte’s record of reappointments, June 21, 2018
- Inquirer.net, Rejections and dismissals: Duterte’s ever-changing ‘rainbow’ Cabinet, Dec. 26, 2017
- South China Morning Post, Is Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte tough on corruption? Not for the slew of fired officials that he rehired, July 5 2018
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
