According to reports, President Rodrigo Duterte was so angry after hearing about the Department of Tourism(DOT)-Bitag Media Unlimited Inc.(BMU) advertisement deal scandal that he ordered the immediate resignation of Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.
Politiko reported in their May 7 article that Duterte was allegedly pushing to remove the tourism secretary in his cabinet team because of the conflict of interests which involved her siblings, Ben Tulfo and her husband Roberto.
“Duterte has reportedly asked for Teo to submit her letter of resignation.” the report said.
Attorney Ferdinand Topacio said to the press that they would voluntarily return the P60 million pesos received by BMU from DOT, however if the report are true, it would not still save Teo from being ousted as tourism secretary.
“‘Kung hindi man mabawi, kasi nasweldo na ‘yun, nagamit na sa production, mag-aambag-ambag na lang kaming magkakapatid para hindi na lang magkaroon ng kahihiyan,'” Attorney Topacio said in a radio interview.
Amid the controversy, Roberto Teo also voluntarily resigned as board of director of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
Another report also said that Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar allegedly received some profanity-laced sermon from Duterte.
Andanar has been asked by Special Assistant Christopher Bong Go to explain how BMU received an ad deal from DOT.
Secretary Andanar is not yet confirming if the news report is true.
After Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the ad deal between BMU and DOT, Erwin Tulfo and Ben Tulfo slammed several officials, media companies and accused them of destroying their reputation.
Palace said that the President quickly ordered an investigation over the ad deal.
President Duterte repeatedly said that he would not hesitate to fire government officials if they showed even a “hint of corruption”.
