Fired OGCC chief Jurado: I respect the President’s decision

After being fired by President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, former Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the president for the opportunity to be part of his administration. 

“I accept and respect our President’s decision. As an appointee who serves under his pleasure, I am honored to have been given a chance to serve under his administration,” Jurado said in a statement.

Jurado has been accused of issuing a legal opinion that led to the approval of a 75-year permit to a casino operator inside the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (Apeco), an allegation he has earlier denied.

On Monday, in a speech during the ceremonial enactment of the Ease of Doing Business Act in Malacañang, Duterte suddenly said “may I call the government corporate counsel now. Are you here? If you are here, you show yourself to me. You son of a b****. You are fired. I don’t need you.”

 “When you are granted a franchise to conduct gambling in a certain facility, it does not include farming out that franchise to other cities and provinces. If that’s the case, then you can ramble on to give permits beyond the shores of Luzon and you can do it in Siasi, Jolo. You are just like [the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp.] operating an independent entity with the same powers to grant everything. You fool,” Duterte said.

READ: Duterte fires government corporate counsel Jurado

Jurado, however, denied the allegations against him.

In his statement, he said allegations against him came out only after he prohibited OGCC lawyers from accepting allowances from government owned and controlled corporations.

“I really do not know what the  Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) lawyers were referring to when they alleged a supposed corruption in approving a 75-year casino permit, because the OGCC has no power to approve casino permits or grant gambling franchises,” Jurado said.

“I hope that the OGCC lawyers could show this 75-year casino permit I supposedly issued,” he dared.

The Government Corporate Counsel explained that Apeco, a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), had requested an opinion if it is allowed under its amended charter to operate outside the Aurora Economic Zone and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

Citing the Apeco Charter (Republic Act No. 9490) as amended by RA 10083, Jurado said “it is clear that Apeco is allowed to operate outside the Aurora Economic Zone as long as it is within a PEZA-controlled area.”

He said he believes his conflict with OGCC lawyers stemmed from the Commission on Audit’s issuance of an Audit Observation Memorandum dated March 12, which flagged that OGCC lawyers have been receiving, among others, “secret allowances” directly from some GOCCs. /vvp

READ: Jurado brushes aside allegations of corruption at OGCC