Would he resign if President orders him? Antiporda says yes, but for now, no

National Irrigation Administration Administrator Benny Antiporda, shown in this file photo holding a press conference on the impact of Typhoon Karding on dams in Quezon City on Sept. 26, 2022. (Photo from the Facebook account of the NIA)

MANILA, Philippines — Suspended head of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Benny Antiporda, would resign if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. orders him to do so amid recent controversies surrounding the former’s office.

But Antiporda, in an exclusive interview with INQUIRER.net’s INQside Look on Tuesday, said that he would not step down as of now because that means yielding to the lies supposedly propagated against him, and forsaking the mandate entrusted him by the President.

“Well you know I have so much respect for our President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos [Jr.].  If he wishes me na to resign, I will resign — I work at the pleasure of the President, and he knows how sincere I am in my job, and it is not because of the salary that’s why I want the suspension to be lifted.  It is about the delivery of service to the people,” Antiporda said.

“If I will resign now parang pinabayaan ko siya, I will not do that.  Parang pinabayaan ko siya — matindi ‘tong laban ni Presidente, kailangan ko siyang samahan, kailangan kong labanan ito gaya no’ng laban na ginawa ko no’ng eleksyon, inilaban ko rin siya, kahit gaano nakatulong tayo nang kaunti sa mga advice sa kanila, well ngayon gagawin ko ‘yon para tumulong pa rin,” he added.

(If I resign now it seems like I left him hanging, I will not do that.  It’s like forsaking him — the President is facing a big fight, I need to accompany him, I need to fight this like I did in the elections when I fought for him, by helping him somewhat by giving advice.  Now I would still do it to help him.)

Antiporda believes Marcos has not been properly appraised yet regarding the situation at NIA, based on an interview with him earlier.

The President said the NIA mess happened “while he was away,” and busy attending to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings out of the country.

Marcos told reporters on Tuesday that operations of the NIA would continue unhampered even with the issues faced by the agency and Antiporda.  Still, the suspended NIA official believes the Chief Executive still trusts him.

READ: Marcos: NIA operations won’t be disrupted despite suspension of Antiporda 

“Based on what I’ve seen, kanina sa interview, hindi pa nai-inform nang maayos ang Presidente on the situation.  But (I’m) just hoping that the President can spare his precious time na makinig sa sasabihin ko for him to know, gaano ka-grabe ang sindikato dito talaga sa NIA,” Antiporda said.

(Based on what I’ve seen earlier in the interview, the President has not been properly informed on the situation.  But (I’m) just hoping that the President can spare his precious time to listen to what I have to say, because he needs to know how bad the syndicates are at NIA.)

“Basically I still do believe that the President still trusts me because nagpaalam ako sa kanya bago ko ginawa ko itong pagbangga ko sa sindikato d’yan sa NIA — I told him that I would clean up NIA in one year, kapag hindi ko nalinis in one year, I will resign,” he added.

(Basically I still do believe that the President still trusts me because I informed him before taking the syndicate in NIA head-on that I would clean up NIA in one year, and if I cannot do that, I will resign.)

Antiporda was placed under a six-month preventive suspension without pay by the Office of the Ombudsman last November 15, after NIA employees and former officials filed complaints against him for grave misconduct and for alleged harassment.

READ: NIA chief suspended due to misconduct, other complaints by workers 

Complainants claimed that as a retaliation, Antiporda barred managers of the Central Office from traveling which “is counterproductive to their work,” while several officials were reassigned and transferred supposedly without valid grounds.

Antiporda’s accusations of corruption against two lawyers — whom the NIA head filed graft complaints against for losing a crucial case early in 2022 — were also mentioned in the order.

READ: NIA seeks raps vs own lawyers for losing P205-M case 

However, Antiporda disputed the accusations, saying that the issues raised are misleading as they were bloated to make him look bad.  According to the NIA official, there were some issues — like claims that he asked NIA personnel to fix his air conditioning system — were blown out of proportion.

He said he did ask NIA personnel to fix his personal air conditioning unit, but it was on a Sunday and he gave them a separate pay — to help workers gain some income.

READ: Antiporda denies NIA workers’ accusations 

Antiporda is still standing by his defense.

“Well it’s a fight against good and evil, ano.  What we’re fighting for is against corruption, sila, ang sinasabi nila is ‘yong aking (they say my) management style (is an issue) wherein it is a management prerogative.  Everything was done within the bounds of the law […] so I still do believe that the President will look deeply into this,” he said.

“‘Wag po tayong papayag, ang taumbayan po nananawagan ako, ‘wag po tayo papayag na mangibabaw ang kasamaan sa kabutihan,” he added.

(Let us not allow, I am calling on the Filipino people, let us not allow evil to triumph over goodness.)

JPV