DAVAO CITY (November 24) — President Rodrigo Duterte fired Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary-General Falconi Millar over corruption issues.
Millar, a lawyer and accountant by profession, was fired following reports of corruption in relation to Marawi rehabilitation projects. The project involves a multi-billion fund.
In his speech during the inauguration of Cavite Gateway on Thursday, Duterte said “Just before I left my office, I signed a dismissal order of the secretary-general of housing. A certain Millar. Binabasa kong resume kanina at tinitingnan ko ang termination (letter), and what deep s**t the guy has created for him. Valedictorian sa (in) law class and everything.”
He added “When you are there, Sec-Gen, you have the power, you have the authority. You can do corruption, and it can corrupt you, give you a little, it corrupts you absolutely. So power of corruption, and sometimes it is really — you want your money to go to your pocket almost every day. That’s the sad story about this government.”
The HUDCC has a council headed by its chairman Eduardo del Rosario, a regular member of the Cabinet. The council is supported by the secretariat, which is led by a secretary-general tasked to execute and administer approved policies and measures.
Aside from being HUDCC secretary-general, Millar was also secretariat head of Task Force Bangon Marawi, which is in charge of Marawi City rehabilitation.
In a report, Millar said he resigned from his post and that there was a “demolition job” against him by people he had “annoyed” because he protected the government’s interests.
“For all of you, disabuse your mind about corruption in government at least here in the executive department. Wala ho kami niyan (We do not have such thing),” the President said.
“Just before I left my office, I signed a dismissal order of the secretary-general of housing. A certain Millar. I read his resume earlier and I saw the termination, I knew what a deep s*** the guy has created for…Valedictorian in law class and everything. But I don’t know,” he added.
Duterte said he has seen a lot of people who used their power to commit corruption.
“Along the way, corruption creeps in… You know when you are there secretary-general, you have the power, you have the authority. You can do corruption and it can corrupt you, give you a little or it corrupts you absolutely… Sometimes it is really you want your money to go to your pocket almost every day,” the President said.
“That’s the sad story about this government,” he added.
Marawi rehab not affected
In a statement, the task Force bangon Marawi said
“We regret hearing the recent news on the termination of Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary-General Falconi Millar whom we closely worked with in Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) as its Secretariat head.”
It added “We will not let this issue distract our continuing efforts to rehabilitate the city of Marawi. Debris management in the most affected area has been ongoing since the groundbreaking at the end of October, with the developer, FINMAT International Resources, Inc. already on board.
We are also preparing for the fourth Kawiyagan set for Nov. 29– the livelihood convergence initiative of TFBM member agencies.”
The HUDCC statement added, that the unwavering commitment of member agencies and stakeholders in this work continues to be the nucleus of government effort in bringing affected families and communities back on its feet and the battered city to normalcy.
In assuring that the project continued as planned without Millar, the HUDCC stressed “We are one with the President in saying that the Marawi rehabilitation will not be affected and we give our full assurance to the public and the people of Marawi that services will not falter towards total recovery.”
Millar used to be the Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism during the term of Wanda Teo he asked HUDCC chair Eduardo del Rosario to be part of the HUDCC team and was taken as Secretary General.-Editha Z. Caduaya/NewsLine.ph
