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Did DILG infighting cause Sueno firing?

Arianne Merez, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/02/22/20160822-sueno-malacanang-mnib-5.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno. <cite>King Rodriguez, Malacanang Photo </cite></div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA- Dismissed Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno on Thursday said he feels there was a &quot;deliberate&quot; attempt on the part of one of his men to leave him in the dark on legalities surrounding Manila&#x27;s fire trucks deal with Austria.Speaking to reporters on his last day in office, Sueno admitted that he felt hurt that one of his undersecretaries, Jesus Hinlo, did not inform him of their department&#x27;s legal opinion on the purchase of firetrucks from Austria despite the fact that the latter received it in October, 4 months before their scheduled trip.“Parang totoo yan, deliberate dahil bakit tinago niya (Hinlo) kung alam niya delikado? Sana sinabi niya sakin…He had four months to tell me from October na natanggap niya yun until January when we went to Austria,” Sueno said.“He (Hinlo) did not give me a copy, so how will I know? How will I read kung wala man ako natanggap?” he said, adding that he only knew of such legal opinion when Duterte confronted him about it last Monday.The legal opinion, which Sueno said was requested by Hinlo himself, advises that payment for the ordered fire trucks be suspended until the Supreme Court decides on the case.“Hindi sinasabi na huwag niyo talaga bayaran. Bayaran, pero wag muna ngayon so yun ang sabi ng opinion na yun,” Sueno said.Hinlo is one of 3 DILG undersecretaries who <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/03/17/dilg-chief-fends-off-bribery-corruption-claims">accused</a> Sueno of various abuses including alleged ties to gambling syndicates and the anomalous purchase of fire trucks. Malacañang on Tuesday confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/03/17/duterte-fires-dilg-chief-over-corruption-allegations">sacked</a> Sueno due to &quot;loss of trust and confidence.&quot;Sueno traveled to Austria last January to iron out a deal for the delivery of 14 more fire trucks which will most likely arrive before the end of the month, he said.Asked whether he will still pursue his request that Hinlo and the 2 other undersecretaries--John Castriciones,and Emily Padilla be removed from office, Sueno said he is no longer interested because he feels hurt.&quot;Di na po ako interested kasi I’m hurt. I’m really hurting,&quot; he said.&quot;Although we were friends, I still consider them friends, may mga differences kasi ang mga tao…so magkaiba kami kaya kung pwede sabi ko palitan.&quot;I hope that the new secretary can work with them or will work with them,&quot; he added.Sueno and the 3 undersecretaries are members of the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Council Committee (MRRD-NECC), which campaigned for the President during the May 2016 polls.Sueno added that the President may have overlooked the fact that he approved the Austria trip on July 15, 2016.“The President may have overlooked the fact that he issued a special authority to Finance Secretary Dominguez dated July 15, 2016 confirming and agreeing to Rosenbauer (fire trucks) agreements. &quot;Consequently Secretary Dominguez in an Oct. 24, 2016 letter, granted Sueno authority to represent the Philippines and sign any documents related to the agreement,” he said.Sueno also defended himself from allegations of corruption, saying he believes Duterte was “misinformed” of the fire trucks deal.“I think he was misinformed. He acted and decided on what he read on the white paper,” Sueno said.<div>FIRE TRUCKS DEAL EXPLAINED</div>Sueno explained that the purchase of fire trucks was an “executive agreement” between the Philippines and Austria.According to Sueno, the delivery of the first batch of 76 fire trucks from Austria was approved by late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo in April 2012. The fire trucks, Sueno said, were delivered in 2013 and are already being used.Manila has also not made any payments with regards to the said fire trucks since the deal prescribes that the payment be made 8 years after the receipt of the fire trucks which will be in 2021.“The Republic of the Philippines has not paid much less a single centavo. Eight years after delivery ang payment,” he told reporters.The second delivery of fire trucks meanwhile, was approved by former DILG secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento in April last year, a time when Sueno said he still had “no inkling” that he will be appointed to a Cabinet post.Sueno also addressed allegations that the deal violated procurement laws, saying a bidding is no longer necessary since it was an executive deal between two governments and also because the deal has an Official Development Assistance (ODA) grant component.The first shipment according to Sueno, had a 61.3 percent grant component which is why each fire truck costs only P6.7 million, lower than the P7 million fire trucks bought from China, which he said was paid by the Philippines in cash.The first deal also only has a 1 percent per annum interest rate while the second deal on the other hand has a 0 percent per annum interest rate, placing the price of each fire truck under the second deal at around P3.8 million per unit.Sueno also denied that the deal did not receive the approval of concerned government agencies, saying the deal was endorsed by 7 government agencies including the Office of the President, Department of Budget and Management, and the Department of Finance.

MANILA- Dismissed Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno on Thursday said he feels there was a "deliberate" attempt on the part of one of his men to leave him in the dark on legalities surrounding Manila's fire trucks deal with Austria.

MANILA- Dismissed Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno on Thursday said he feels there was a "deliberate" attempt on the part of one of his men to leave him in the dark on legalities surrounding Manila's fire trucks deal with Austria.

Did DILG infighting cause Sueno firing?

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Did DILG infighting cause Sueno firing?

Arianne Merez,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 06, 2017 02:10 PM PHT

Read More:

ANC

Ismael Sueno

fire trucks

Rodrigo Duterte

DILG

Interior and Local Government

Jesse Robredo

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