Firetruck deal that got Sueno fired will proceed —Palace

Malacañang on Thursday said that the firetruck deal involving the Department of the Interior and the Local Government (DILG) that led to the firing of Secretary Ismael Sueno will proceed.

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the deal was “a perfected contract and there is no temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevents its implementation.”

Duterte fired Sueno during a Cabinet meeting earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Duterte said he fired a Cabinet official over a firetruck deal.

“Tapos ‘yung report niya galing sa legal officer niya mismo. At sabi ko bakit pumunta doon to sign, to buy it fire truck worth 18 million? P— ina, anong klaseng sunog ‘yan? We’ll buy it at 7, 8. That’s the running price now over a fire truck made in Japan. This guy has to go to sign despite the fact that the opinion of his lawyer, the legal officer of his office, says do not differ,” he said.

“He went to sign and when I asked him during the Cabinet meeting, I said, ‘Did you not read the...’ And he said, ‘No, I was not furnished a—’ Gusto  kong sampalin eh kaya lang nandiyan man sila ma’am. Sabi ko lang, ‘You’re fired. Go out of this office. I don’t need you,’” Duterte added.

Sueno has denied wrongdoing, saying  there was no way that he could have prevented the purchase because it was a perfected contract entered into by the previous administration.

Also on Thursday, former ABAKADA party-list Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz urged the Supreme Court (SC) anew to issue a stay order on the release of funds amounting to P3.07 billion for the acquisition of 156 firetrucks from an Austrian company.

Dela Cruz cited the firing early this month of Sueno over the deal the former lawmaker said undermined and jeopardized the interests of the government "which stands to lose and waste billions of pesos in its coffers.”

According to Dela Cruz, the former Cabinet  met with officials of the Rosenbauer International Aktiengesellschaft last January to proceed with the implementation and effect payment of the under the supply contract dated April 20, 2016.

Dela Cruz said Sueno went ahead with the trip despite the pendency of the petition with the SC and the legal opinion of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) dated October 26, 2016 on the deal.

The legal opinion advised prudence in paying for the project since there was a pending case in the high court.

"Considering the intended arrival and delivery date of the Fire Fighting Vehicle TLF 4000 at the Port of Batangas on April 18, 2017, the petitioner (Dela Cruz) respectfully pleads that the Honorable Court acts most expeditiously and without any inordinate delay to prevent the malefactors in government to continue in their plunderous and criminal shenanigans and to inform all and sundry that the violations of the Philippine Constitution resulting in the unlawful disbursements of public funds resulting in the loss and damage to the government and the Filipino people...do not lie in this jurisdiction," the motion stated. —JST/NB, GMA News