House’s dropping of charges vs Puno part of palace’s damage control—Magsaysay

Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines – Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay on Monday said that the House of Representatives’ decision to drop its plans of looking into allegations on resigned interior undersecretary Rico E. Puno was part of the administration’s attempt at damage control.

She told Radyo Inquirer 990 AM in an interview with anchor John Susi that she was positive Malacañang had something to do with the House of Representatives’ move to halt the investigation on Puno. “Klaro ho yun na may demolition job kay Usec. Puno (It’s clear that there’s been a demolition job on Usec Puno). This issue did not come from the minority, it came from the allies of the administration since there’s in-fighting in PNoy’s family.”

The lawmaker said that Puno may have been asked to step down from his post at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) after the demolition job turned into something which they could not control. “When they tried to set a Puno on fire ang nangyari kumalat, naging bush fire na, hindi na nila macontrol, kaya nagdamage control ang malacanang at pinagresign siya (When they tried to set a Puno on fire, what happened was it spread like bush fire, they couldn’t control. That’s why they had damage control and asked him to resign).”

Magsaysay added that the House committee on public order and safety should have pursued its planned probe on the former Interior Undersecretary for Peace and Order despite a separate investigation launched at the Senate.

“To be fair to Puno, I wanted a trial and for the investigation to go on. Tutal minalign ka na sa Malacañang—sa akin (After all, you’ve been maligned in Malacañang) it would have been a good venue for him to speak out.”

The deputy minority leader felt that the panel should look into the allegations since her colleagues Agham Party-list Representative Angelo Palmones and Antipolo City Representative Romeo Acop filed resolutions urging for an investigation.

“They’re claiming that the Austrian government and the US Embassy are investigating, paano nakarating and Glock pistols dito sa Philippines (how did the Glock pistols reach the Philippines). Ang Austrian government pinagbawal na ang (prohibited the) export (of the said firearms) to the Philippines dahil nablacklist na yung (because they blacklisted the) Trust Trade which is the company which imported the pistols.”

“Akala ko ba ang ine-espouse ng admin ay transparency and accountability (I thought the [Aquino] administration is espousing transparency and accountability)? Kinucurtail nila ang oversight functions ng (They curtail the oversight functions of) both houses of congress to hear what really happened” Magsaysay said.

For more of the interview, listen to the attached audio clip from Radyo Inquirer 990AM.