Malacañang slammed on Wednesday the “open defiance” of the sacked officials of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) after they released an open letter published in newspapers insisting the legality of a lease contract with a casino developer.
“Itong liham po na isinapubliko at ipinablish pa, hindi sa isa, kung hindi sa dalawang pahayagan, ito po ay open defiance na doon sa naging desisyon na ng Presidente,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a radio dzMM interview.
President Rodrigo Duterte on August 7 fired all NPF board members over a “grossly disadvantageous” 70-year property lease contract with Hong Kong-based Landing International Development Ltd to operate a casino in the country.
In an open letter titled “The truth must be told,” the NPF officials said the allegations against them were “blatant lies” as they defended the lease contract.
But Roque defended the President’s decision to fire them.
“At the end of the day, all public officials, including those who are in government-owned and controlled corporations, serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority, who happens to be the President,” Roque said in a statement.
“If the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) trustees and officials believe that they were unfairly accused of graft and corruption, then they should focus their energies on any investigation of the charges,” he added.
He urged the officials to “respect the decision of the President.”
“[Duterte’s] stance remains: He does not want a new casino,” he said.
The Palace official said the decision of NPF trustees and officials “was actually a violation of the President’s order that there will be no more new casinos allowed to operate in this country.”
“Since the President has already spoken, no NPF trustee or official can insist that he or she should continue holding office,” he said. /muf