SUKOL-DAGAN or “tip and run.” That’s how I see the latest move of the Presidential Assistant (PA) Michael Dino against Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr.
Before I proceed, let’s talk about the context first.
On Oct. 7, 2017, when the Kilusang Pagbabago held its 10,000-strong Kilos Suporta rally at Plaza Independencia with Cabsec Evasco, the Cabinet secretary said he will look into complaints by Yolanda survivors in Tacloban City.
We know Kilusang Pagbabago (KP) is the mass movement of Duterte supporters with chapters nationwide and abroad. This is aligned with the Office of Participatory Governance (OPG) under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary. Evasco is one of the president’s trusted men.
Shortly after this, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) issued several statements blaming an unnamed pro-Duterte organization and local government units (LGUs) as the reason for the huge drop in President Duterte’s popularity in the Visayas, not him. He even called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the police to investigate this organization.
Pundits in mainstream and social media know what organization PA Dino meant.
Shortly thereafter, KP Region 6 convenor Fr. Jose Elmer Cajilig issued a press statement that the mass movement would investigate reports relating to unfinished Yolanda housing sites in the Visayas as the administration’s partner for change.
In the process, the KP Region 6 teamreported about the flood in Bugasong town in Antique that affected five barangays last Oct. 20, 2017. A news report about this published in a Manila broadsheet said PA Dino, identified as the “Yolanda Housing Czar,” has not visited the area.
In response, Asec Jonji Gonzales posted the OPAV press statement on Facebook with the words “Fake News” superimposed on the Lacayon story.
A screenshot of PA Dino’s post of a December 17 meeting mentioned the appointment of Presidential Assistant Wendell Avisado for Yolanda rehabilitation.
The OPAV statement likewise said, and I quote: “On 14 January 2017, PA Dino formally handed over the work he did in Tacloban City to government line agencies during a meeting presided by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco in Davao City.”
According to Asec Gonzales, “Dino was not tasked by the President in the construction of houses as the Yolanda Housing Project is undertaken by the National Housing Authority.”
The OPAV statement failed to mention that:
--There are three other unfinished relocation sites in Tacloban City.
--In late January 2017, Dino was accompanied by his staff and two reporters on board two Air Force helicopters and made a show of inspecting North Cebu relocation sites. No mention that PA Dino had turned over his Yolanda job. (Nganong wa gi-delete dayon ang video posted in FB in February 2017?)
--In August 2017, a presidential order named Dino co-chairman of an inter-agency task force on Yolanda.
It is obvious. PA Dino, while washing his hands, called KP’s story fake while he passed the buck to Evasco and the NHA. But now, he denies blaming them. Sukol-dagan lagi.