MANILA – Still true to his administration’s war against corruption, President Rodrigo Duterte fired the country’s oil exploration chief.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement that Duterte asked Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) chief executive officer Pedro Aquino to resign as the President has lost confidence in him.
“The President’s order is still in line, and pursuant to his anti-corruption campaign in the government, and underscores once again that there are no sacred cows under this Administration,” he added.
Aquino had been PNOC-EC’s president and CEO since 2012. He was appointed as its chairman of the board in 2007. He also served as its senior vice president from 1993-2008.
Aquino was allegedly asked to resign due to a deal he inked this year with state-owned Russian oil giant Rosneft Oil Company and Hong Kong-based Pionaire Finance Limited without the knowledge of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the chair of PNOC-EC.
Panelo, meanwhile, reiterated Duterte’s directive to all government workers to resist temptation of corruption or risk getting fired.
“All government officials are directed to undertake actions which are only pursuant to what the law provides in the performance of their official functions and desist from committing any act that are — or may appear to be — irregular, illegal or dishonest,” Panelo said.
President Duterte has been vocal in his fight against corruption and he has fired several government officials since assuming the presidency in 2016 due to corruption links./PN
