Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/John Paul R. Autor
Officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) threw their support behind Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade amid the allegations hurled against him by a group calling for his ouster.
DOTr Assistant Secretary for Communications Cherrie Mercado on Wednesday said that the coalition behind the Oust Tugade Movement “was formed only to besmirch the reputation of the Secretary and the (department.)”
“They have no searchable profile or a mission statement. Nor have they advocated any issue to protect road users. Their Facebook page is newly formed, with all eight posts against Tugade. It is apparent that the only thing they are advocating is the ouster of the Transportation secretary,” Mercado said in a statement.
She also clarified the supposed connection between Tugade and gambling tycoon Jack Lam, saying that Tugade knew Lam only as a “locator” in Clark when he was still the president of the CDC.
“It is not CDC that grants permits for online gambling. In fact, Sec. Tugade was very strict in granting BPO permits to make sure it was not being used as front for online gambling,” Mercado said.
Incumbent CDC President Noel Manankil corroborated this, saying that it was during Tugade’s term that strict regulations for casinos in Clark were implemented.
Lam is in hot water over the arrest of more than 1,300 Chinese nationals illegally working in an online casino at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark. Philippine National Police chief Dir. Gen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the arrest of Lam for bribery and economic sabotage, but Lam has reportedly fled out of the country.
Mercado said that when he was still CDC president, Tugade even provided the initial lead for illegal online gambling businesses and that he even castigated a locator who once tried to bribe him.
Mercado added that Tugade is just concentrating on improving the transportation sector in the country, with the following as highlights: the increase of on-time flight arrivals; the eradication of the “laglag bala” scheme in airports; the regulation of mall sales; the extension of the validity of drivers’ licenses; and the resolution to the seven-year deadlock for the common station of the Metro Rail Transit and the Light Rail Transit in Quezon City. IDL