‘Don’t jail HUDCC chief’ over P5-M hajj or ‘we’ll revolt in Mindanao again’

President Rodrigo Duterte. (File photo by ARMAN BAYLON / Presidential Photographers Division)

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday urged the Commission on Audit (COA) not to imprison the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chief over the P5 million Marawi rehabilitation fund used for last year’s hajj trip of some displaced residents.

Duterte, in a speech during the celebration of Eid’l Fitr in Davao City, even warned COA that jailing HUDCC Secretary Eduardo del Rosario would also mean jailing him and presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, which could result in another revolution in Mindanao.

“So ngayon, sabihin ko kay COA, ‘wag mo’ng presuhin ‘yang si Del Rosario. Kasi kung presuhin mo, pati ako ma-demanda. Pati si Inday,” Duterte noted.

“Pag nademanda ang anak ko pati ako, ma-preso ako, mag-revolt kami uli dito sa Mindanao. Kayo ang bahala,” he added.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, who is also Duterte’s chief legal counsel, on Tuesday said HUDCC could face technical malversation charges if the P5 million was proven to have been diverted to send some Marawi City residents to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the hajj in 2018.

READ: HUDCC may face malversation raps over Marawi fund diversion

(Editor: Katherine G. Adraneda)

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