Update
President Rodrigo Duterte slammed Urban Poor Commission Chairman Terry Ridon for his frequent trips abroad.
“He traveled about seven times to think that the office is an urban poor agency,” Duterte said in a speech in Malacañang.
The President said the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) is supposed to be a collegial body but he found out that “they never had any meeting except for one or two.”
The President said he had fired Ridon and all the commissioners of the PCUP.
He, however, clarified that his decision to fire Ridon, a known-left leaning government official, was nothing personal.
“[I] No personal reasons really to fire him except that he had too much too soon,” he said.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday said Duterte fired Ridon and all the commissioners of PCUP for being “notorious for junkets abroad.”
In a statement, Ridon said the Office of the President has issued travel authorities for all his foreign trips.
“All trips were covered by Travel Authorities issued by the Office of the President and recommended by the Office of the Cabinet Secretary involving international conferences relevant to the urban poor: poverty alleviation, public housing and climate change,” he said.
“Further, these conferences involved a multi-agency delegation, including agencies under the Office of the President like PCUP,” he added.