DAVAO CITY (May 30) — President Rodrigo Duterte fired on Wednesday Bureau of Customs (BOC) deputy commissioner Noel Patrick Sales Prudente over excessive foreign trips.
Prudente is facing an investigation by the House of Representatives over the supposed questionable release of container vans at the Manila South Harbor.
“I will cut short the agony of Congress. I am firing him today,” Duterte said in a speech following the destruction of motorcycles and vehicles at the Port of Manila.
Reading from a report handed to him, Duterte said Prudente has personal travels to Singapore and Europe.
“Ito ‘yung mga sikreto. Hindi naman natutulog sabi ko. Nalalaman ng military ‘yan pati pulis. Akala mo lang na hindi alam,” Duterte said.
“We are all being monitored because itong Customs kasi I said it’s always been considered the purgatory of government service,” he added.
“Maliit ang sweldo sa gobyerno maniwala kayo. Sabi ko sa inyo if there is anything that you cannot afford ‘yung mga medications, you can always go to my office. There’s money. You do not have to extort us or beg,” he said.
“And I can always call many of them. And they have the money and they can help us. Pero ‘yung babawi mo sa smuggling, one way or the other, magkakaroon ka talaga ng problema,” he added
In his own speech, BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña vowed to continue the reforms and changes that Duterte wanted to implement in the bureau.
Lapeña admitted that he was the one who recommended Prudente to Duterte since he has knowledge on Information Technology (IT).
“I met him during the campaign sorties of the president in Tagaytay then when he (Duterte) won. We saw each other again and while we were talking, he seems to be knowledgeable in IT. That’s how it came about. During that time I was scouting. That is why I recommended him,” Lapeña added.
Duterte warned government officials, he is watching them, “It’s just in your mind that your movement will not be revealed. You are all being monitored because this Customs has been considered the purgatory of government service.”
“I’m warning everybody here. Maybe you think it’s just a drama. I will really go after you,” he added.
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Prudente is the second official sacked by Duterte in three days time, after Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philipe Jurado .-Editha Z. Caduaya/NewsLine.ph
