House issues resolution urging Duterte to fire Ben Diokno
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 11:30:08 +0000
DIOKNO (Photo lifted from DBM website)
The House of Representatives on Wednesday night unanimously adopted a resolution urging President Duterte to fire Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
The appeal came a day after Diokno’s appearance in the “Question Hour” that the House called to clear the air over the controversies surrounding the multi-billion peso insertions in allocations for infrastructure projects to be implemented next year.
“Whereas during the Question Hour, the issue on the augmentation in the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways without the DPWH Secretary’s knowledge and consent remains unresolved,” House Resolution No. 2365 stated.
Authored by House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, HR 2365 resolved to “urge His Excellency Rodrigo Roa Duterte, to reconsider the appointment of Hon. Benjamin Diokno as Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.”
Suarez, who also authored the resolution calling for the holding of a Question Hour, chided Diokno in connection with findings of the House that the Cabinet official’s in-laws received huge chunks of project allotments under the 2018 General Appropriations Act.
He aired “doubts as to” the integrity of Diokno and “use of his position in accommodating and merging family with public interests.”
Suarez accused Diokno of being behind the awarding of numerous public works contracts to the C.T. Leoncio Construction and Trading Corp., a single-proprietorship firm that is based in Bulacan.
The company was able to win biddings for 30 flood control projects in Sorsogon and Catanduanes although these two provinces are not included in the priority list of areas needing anti-flood infrastructure.
“Secretary Diokno also was not able to explain how one sole proprietorship construction company was able to obtain numerous projects form the government in Sorsogon amounting to billions of pesos,” Suarez said. (Ben R. Rosario)