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Roque clarifies reports claiming Duterte told Teo to resign

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday, May 8, clarified reports claiming President Rodrigo Duterte has fired Department of Tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo during the 25th Cabinet meeting late Monday night.

According to a local patch report in Manila, Duterte has instructed Teo to step down from her post as tourism secretary.

Roque neither confirmed nor denied the news, but said that the two were involved in a “serious talk” after the cabinet meeting.

“Kahapon po, matapos ang Cabinet meeting, ang makukumpirma ko lang ay nagkaroon ng one-on-one meeting itong si Presidente at si Secretary Teo. At nakita naman po ng lahat iyong one-on-one meeting na iyan kasi doon din po iyan sa Aguinaldo State Dining Room ‘no. At mukhang seryosong-seryoso naman po ang Presidente at si Secretary Wanda Teo sa pagpupulong na iyan,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview with state-run Radyo Pilipinas.

“I have no information on that so I cannot confirm nor deny it,” he added.

Some reports claim that the president instructed Teo to attend the meeting following the latter’s announcement that she will not resign as tourism chief amid the Php60-million ad money controversy involving her and her brothers Ben and Erwin Tulfo.

Earlier, Teo’s lawyer and spokesperson Ferdinand Topacio said that the tourism chief’s brothers will return the Php60-million they received to air DOT advertisements on their show, “Kilos Pronto”.

The deal, which was divided into three payment schemes, P22.09 million in May, P18.96 million in November and another P18.96 million in December, lacked a memorandum of agreement or contract, COA said.

Teo said there was no conflict of interest in the deal since it happened between DOT and PTV 4, not between DOT and Kilos Pronto producers, Bitag Media Unlimited Inc (BMUI), which is also owned by the Tulfo brothers.

Meanwhile, Roque also clarified that the DOT secretary’s husband, Roberto Teo, has “long resigned” from his post as Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) board member, and only remained in TIEZA because there was no one to replace him.

Mr.Teo was dragged into controversy when critics slammed his being TIEZA board member as conflict of interest and nepotism.

He was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III on Feb. 14, 2014.

“Mr. Teo was an appointee of President Aquino into TIEZA and he has long tendered his resignation pero wala pa pong kapalit kaya daw po nandodoon pa siya (but he has no replacement that’s why he remained there),” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

Roque, however, said that Mr. Teo will no longer be attending meetings to avoid controversy. He did not give further details about the date when Mr. Teo officially tendered his resignation.

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