MALACAÑANG on Monday, June 29, 2020, said Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino continues to enjoy the trust of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“We all serve at the pleasure of the President po. Kapag nawalan ng tiwala ang President, goodbye, Cabinet member,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said during his regular virtual press briefing Monday.
“Pero sa ngayon po, nand’yan pa rin po si Secretary Dino. So may tiwala pa rin po ang Presidente kay Secretary Dino,” he added.
Roque said politics should be temporarily set aside as the nation wages a battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Critics have called for Dino's resignation.An online petition on change.org calls on the President to replace Dino over alleged anomalies in the purchase of test kits in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu in Cebu.
Dino, a businessman prior to his appointment as presidential assistant, has denied the allegations, saying he had no hand in the purchase and his mother’s foundation had even donated reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction machines and test kits.
Dino has also asked the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police to investigate the online petition for cyber libel. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)