TOURISM Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo still enjoys President Rodrigo Duterte's trust and confidence, despite the Tourism department's controversial placement of P60 million worth of advertisements on her brothers' television show, MalacaƱang said Thursday, May 3.
"Every Cabinet member, unless they're fired, enjoys the trust and confidence of the President," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. told Palace reporters, when asked if the President still trusts Teo.
On Monday, April 30, Roque revealed that the President has ordered an investigation into the Department of Tourism's (DOT) move to place advertisements on the "Kilos Pronto" program of Teo's brother, Ben Tulfo, that was aired on state-run PTV-4 last year.
A 2017 report by the Commission on Audit found that the P60-million advertisement deal was made despite lack of documents, such as the memorandum of agreement (MOA).
The state auditors also noted that there was "no basis" to compute the payments for the advertisements since there was no MOA.
Roque said he would rather "reserve judgment" while the investigation against Teo is ongoing.
Asked when the probe would be completed, Roque said the President has not set a target date.
He, however, assured that Duterte would reasonably deal with the issue hurled against the Tourism Secretary.
"Let the investigation proceed for a while and let's see if it (advertisement deal) was done rightly or wrongly," he said.
"He (Duterte) has a track record of what he does when a report reached him and he is convinced with this report. Let's wait for his final action. The President has had to deal with the closest of his allies. The President let them go, if it's proven that they're involved in graft and corruption," Roque added. (SunStar Philippines)