DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte said there would be no politics in the distribution of the budget during his administration, saying he had ordered Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to spread the money to all, regardless of political affiliations.
“My order to Diokno: No politics,” the President said in his speech in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
The President was in the Bukidnon town to inaugurate a P500-million drug rehabilitation center funded by Chinese businessmen.
“No politics, give it to all, spread the money to the people of the Philippines,” the President said.
He also said he intended to “finish his job,” although he would spend most of his energy on fulfilling the five basic promises he made during the campaign.
5 fundamentals
One of these, he added, was to fight corruption.
“What else I can say?” he said. “I intend to finish my job but I will limit it to the five fundamentals because the structure is already there.”
Expressing gratitude to the people of Bukidnon, where the he won resoundingly in the 2016 elections, the President also said Bukidnon Gov. Jose Maria Rubin Zubiri Jr. was among officials he would trust.
“There are good local executives, and Governor Zubiri is one,” the President said.
He said “you can leave your trillions” to Zubiri and not worry because “he’s rich and he remains simple, not overbearing.”
Proud supporters
Zubiri, in introducing the President, said the people of Bukidnon were proud to have contributed to his election victory.
He said previous presidents had come to Bukidnon to campaign but no one delivered.
“We’ve had presidents in the past, they came to Bukidnon to campaign and never delivered their promise,” the governor said.
Among the projects that Zubiri credited to the President was the proposed airport to be built in Don Carlos town and the sports complex in Malaybalay.
The drug rehab facility inaugurated by Mr. Duterte in Malaybalay was Mindanao’s biggest donated by businessmen led by Jose Kho. —Germelina Lacorte