Sueno denies corruption, says questioned firetruck deal a legit contract

Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno denied allegations that he was corrupt saying he had no choice but to implement the the firetruck deal that President Rodrigo Duterte questioned during a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Sueno said Duterte had been fed with the wrong information "by those who were salivating for his post from the start."

On the issue of alleged anomalous payment of the Rosenbauer firetrucks, he said there was no way that he could have prevented the purchase because it was a perfected contract entered into by the previous administration.

“My role was to abide by the provision of the contract which says that I should ensure that the firetrucks to be delivered are in good condition so my team and I had to go to Austria to inspect them. If we did not do that, we cannot anymore complain if they delivered defective firetrucks to us,” Sueno said.

He added the firetrucks were actually much cheaper compared to locally-made firetrucks because these are under a soft loan agreement for 23 years with only minimal interest rates.

“The Austrian firetrucks are new ones compared to the locally-made ones which are cheaper but are reconditioned and which are good only for a few years.  But then again, this is beside the point.  The contract is perfected and I only had to implement it,” Sueno said.

He said that while there was a pending petition preventing the enforcement and implementation of the contract before the Supreme Court, there was no temporary restraining order, any injunctive relief or even a status quo ante order issued by the court suspending or holding the same in abeyance.

“I wholeheartedly accept the decision of the President.  It is his call if he wants me in his Cabinet or not.  But for the record, Mr. President, and I can say this with all honesty and sincerity, hindi po ako corrupt,” Sueno said.

“I just wished the information was validated. If only the President asked DILG personnel from the central down to the regional and field offices, he would have known who amongst us are more credible and trustworthy,” he added.

Sueno said he was ready to clear his name and ready to face any investigation by any concerned group or body.

“My conscience is clear.  Inuulit ko po, wala akong ginawa o ginagawang anomalya,” Sueno said.

He said he was grateful for the opportunity to have served the DILG for almost ten months.

“I believe that I did my best and I gave my whole heart to the job.  I am also fortunate to have been given a chance to work with a dedicated and passionate workforce in the DILG,” Sueno said.

Sueno expressed confidence that truth will prevail in the end on the corruption issues thrown against him.

“What goes around comes around.  I hope that they (detractors) will do better than I did in the DILG.  I may be old, I may not be as articulate as my three lawyer-undersecretaries, but if there is one thing that I am sure of is I am not corrupt,” he said. —NB, GMA News