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[av_heading heading=’ ON SUENO OUSTER FROM DILG | Negros Region ‘lost a champion’ – Lacson’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Negros officials worry that their push for the retention of the island region will weaken now that Ismael Sueno is no longer the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary.
They consider Sueno a “defender” of the island region, which President Rodrigo Duterte will allegedly abolish for lack of budget. He assured Negros officials and residents of support from the Cabinet.
But Duterte fired Sueno for allegedly abusing his power as DILG secretary and engaging in “possibly illegal transactions.”
Negros Occidental vice governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said they “lost a champion for the NIR (Negros Island Region).”
According to Lacson, the fate of the island region “will now depend on who will replace him (Sueno).”
Sueno’s dismissal from the Interior department had a “small psychological effect” on the people of Negros Occidental, according to Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Ma. Lina Sanogal.
Now Negros is pinning its hopes on undersecretaries Jesus Hinlo Jr. and Austere Panadero, who have also been advocating the retention of the island region, the capitol official said in a statement.
“I don’t have an update from the DILG. But since there’s a Cabinet cluster assigned to discuss NIR retention, I hope discussions will push through during the next Cabinet meeting,” said Sanogal.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Salvador Escalante also hopes Hinlo — a lawyer based in this city before his appointment to the Interior department — gets appointed as the agency’s officer-in-charge.
Sueno’s dismissal followed an exchange between the secretary and Duterte during a Cabinet meeting Monday night, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
The President has looked into “possibly illegal public transactions” Sueno may have entered into, Abella told the press Tuesday.
Also, the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Council in a letter allegedly accused Sueno of abusing his power.
“[Duterte] is very serious about restoring trust in government,” Abella said in a televised press briefing. “The major implication is that the President will not countenance even a whiff of corruption.”
Sueno denied the allegations of corruption. He accused his three undersecretaries — Hinlo, John Castriciones and Emily Padilla — of authoring the letter.
“They were resentful because (I) had to reassign some of the workload and projects to the other undersecretaries since nothing happened to the programs given to [them] and nothing much is moving in terms of accomplishments,” Sueno said.
Panay News tried to reach Hinlo for comment, but his mobile phone number cannot be reached as of press time.
The paper also tried to reach other Negros Island officials and advocates for comment, but to no avail./PN
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