PCG’s no-holds-barred reaction vs legitimacy of ‘auxiliary group’ irks Diño

DILG Undersecretary for barangay affairs Martin Diño. INQUIRER.net / Julliane Love de Jesus

Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño lashed back at the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday after it questioned the legitimacy of an “auxiliary organization” that conferred a two-star rank on the official.

The PCG earlier said Diño might have been recruited by a bogus organization.

Diño recently drew flak online after he posted a photo on his official Facebook account wearing a PCG Auxiliary (PCGA) two-star rank uniform given by the Manila Yacht Club Squadron.

However, the PCG questioned this conferment and the group that gave the rank saying that Diño was not a member of the PCGA.

Diño was seen wearing a uniform being worn usually by a rear admiral of the PCGA.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official said that if the PCG believes that the Manila Yacht Club Squadron was a fake organization, then the agency should have announced it to the public a long time ago.

“Ang akin, noon pa ‘yan. Eh ngayon kung sinasabi ng Philippine Coast Guard na bogus yan, dapat yan inannounce nila na bogus yan,” Diño said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

(For me, that group has been there for a long time. If the Philippine Coast Guard is saying that the Manila Yacht Club Squadron is bogus, they should have announced it.)

“Eh ngayon, lumalabas na ang Manila Yacht Club pa pala ang kauna-unahang na Philippine Coast Guard sa buong Pilipinas. At tsaka ang Manila Yacht Club lang ang nakaregister sa SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission],” he added.

(But now it appears that the Manila Yacht Club is actually the first Philippine Coast Guard in the entire Philippines. And the Manila Yacht Club is actually registered with SEC.)

According to Diño, the photo was taken during an induction ceremony in Batangas Port. He also noted that he was not the only one present during the event.

The DILG undersecretary said he does not care about the uniform and the two-star rank that the Manila Yacht Club had given him.

“Ang akin lang, malinis ang konsensya ko. Wala akong pakielam sa uniporme na yan, ang rango na yan, eh jusko naman Undersecretary na ako, chairman ako ng Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption,” he said.

(For me, I have a clear conscience. I don’t care about that uniform, about the rank, for crying out loud I’m already an undersecretary, I’m the chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.)

“I don’t want to sawsaw sa kanilang problema. Kung gusto nila, yang uniporme na yan, kanila na tsaka yung rango nila,” he added.

(I don’t want to dip into their problems. If they want to, they can have that uniform and the rank as well.)

The DILG earlier kept its hands off the controversy between Diño and PCG. /jpv

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