Duterte fires all members of Nayong Pilipino board
President Rodrigo Duterte has fired all the members of the Board of Trustees and the management of state-run Nayong Pilipino Foundation due to the contract that it entered into which was allegedly "grossly disadvantageous" to the government.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced the sacking of the NPF officials during his regular press briefing in Malacanang while the government agency was holding the groundbreaking ceremony for the $1.5 billion Nayon Landing theme park in Paranaque City.
"As you know yesterday, we had a Cabinet meeting and the president started the meeting by expressing his exasperation that corruption continues even in his administration. He cited the case of Nayong Pilipino which leased government property for a ridiculous long period of time of 70 years, beyond the lifetime of anyone; and he considered this as contract which was grossly disadvantageous to government," Roque said.
"He therefore announced that he was sacking all members of the Board and Management of Nayong Pilipino. The papers that will formally terminate the entire Management and the entire Board of Directors of Nayong Pilipino will be issued in due course by the Executive Secretary," he added.
Asked if Maria Fema Duterte, who is a relative of the President, and member of the Board was among those ordered fired, Roque said,"No other details."
But in the Facebook page of Fema Duterte, she hailed the president's order to dismiss the NPF officials.
"My long awaited news!" she said.
Fema Duterte earlier filed complaints against eight members of the NPF board, including chair Patricia Yvette Ocampo, for alleged violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; RA 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials; and civil service rules covering dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, inefficiency and incompetence.
In her complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman, one of the issues she cited was the NPF board's approval of a proposal from Landing Resorts Philippines Development Corp. (LRPDC), for the lease and development of the theme park for allegedly without an independent appraisal and public notice.
But Ocampo reportedly said under the agreement with the Chinese firm, it would shoulder all the costs of the project and without any expense from the government.
Roque could not give yet further details about the details on the dismissal of the NPF officials. Celerina Monte/DMS
