Duterte: Funds used as cash assistance not from gov't

From the Philippine Information Agency (Jan 9): Duterte: Funds used as cash assistance not from gov't

Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte vehemently denied using government funds as cash assistance to residents ,rebels and soldiers alike when he reached out typhoon- ravaged- area in Barangay Ngan, Compostela, Compostela last December 26. Speaking to reporters, he explained that the funds came from a philanthropist who had been helpful in supporting the medication of cancer patients at the Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Duterte said that as a gesture of gratitude, the private individual who refused to be identified gave out P1-Million for the cancer patients and another P500,000 for the needy, as a way of sharing the blessings received from running a simple business for the past several years. He said the P500,000 was given in form of cash and material assistance to the victims of typhoon Pablo. “I gave out financial assistance to residents and rebels to ensure that the economy would move. Poverty is widespread in the area and help is needed, in the same manner that I extended assistance to the soldiers in New Bataan,” Duterte said.

He revealed he visited a rebel camp in Compostela Valley following an invitation by the rebels for him to come during their founding anniversary.Duterte said one of the rebel leaders had been an acquaintance back in Martial Law years, at the time when as a government prosecutor he sued them to court. He said even the parents of one of the rebels leaders were supporters of his father, then Governor Vicente Duterte of the empire province of Davao. “It could be a good time to rekindle with old acquaintances,” he said.

Duterte said that all his reaching out activities even to the rebels that day were coordinated with Major General Ariel Bernardo, commander of the 10th Infantry Division and Chief Superintendent Jaime Morente, director of the Police Regional Office XI. He said his visit to the rebels and even keeping the authorities informed were more a gesture of courtesy. During the vice mayor’s sortie, the military, police and the communist rebels were observing a suspension of military operations and unilateral ceasefire, respectively in lieu of the holidays and the relief operations on areas hardest hit by typhoon Pablo.

Duterte said building materials like nails and roof were already delivered to the area as promised to the residents last week. He urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to allow him to provide chainsaws to the highlands for residents there to use the fallen trees as lumber in the construction of new houses. Duterte said there are no longer illegal logging activities to talk about in the area, since almost all trees were uprooted during the onslaught of typhoon Pablo.

He also admitted that having friends with the enemies and supporters of the state has made him a compromised government official. Duterte said it is one of the primary reasons why he brushed aside offers by the national leadership in the past for him to run the Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government. “I am not qualified and besides, I am a compromised public official. Both left and right are my friends. How can I discharge properly my duty if the rebel forces are also my friends,” he pointed out.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=2381357700526