Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday said President Rodrigo Duterte is taking recent allegations of corruption in his administration seriously and that the President has always been committed to fighting corruption.
In an interview with the media on July 5 before he led the distribution of aid to sari-sari store owners in Baguio City, Cayetano said the President has always instructed Congress and all executive agencies to investigate any allegation of corruption.
“I think yung order naman ng Pangulo sa lahat ng ahesya pati sa Kongreso, imbestigahan lahat ito,” he said.
(I think it has always been the President’s order to all agencies and to Congress to investigate all of these allegations.)
Cayetano said Duterte was not offended when Senator Manny Pacquiao accused several executive agencies of corruption during the pandemic.
“Di naman nao-offend si Presidente pag sinabi mong may korapsyon dahil alam naman niyang meron and we are all fighting na matanggal ang korupsyon,” he said.
(The President will not be offended if you point out that there’s still corruption in the government because he is aware of that and we are all fighting to end it.)
Pacquiao had held a press conference on Saturday in which he claimed that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) failed to distribute P10.4 billion in cash aid under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
At the same time, he said the Department of Health (DOH) had been purchasing medicines nearing their expiration dates.
The senator also said the Department of Energy (DOE) granted a private company the power to operate as an independent electricity stock market operator.
Cayetano said the President is taking these allegations seriously because there has been a “direct accusation” against his administration.
But he also said Pacquiao can fight corruption without causing unnecessary intrigue and disputes especially at this time when all camps need to unite behind the country’s response to COVID-19.
“Corruption is one of the enemies nitong (panahon ng) COVID-19 pandemic,” Cayetano said.
(Corruption is one of the enemies under the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.)
