DICT Undersecretary Rio says Duterte did not accept his resignation

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte did not accept his resignation.

On February 3, Rio said he submitted his resignation after DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan kept him out of the loop over how the agency spent P300 million in confidential funds.

“He (Duterte) did not accept my resignation. But up to now, I have not withdrawn it,” Rio told reporters.

Rio was asked confirmation on a Commission on Audit Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) dated January 20 about the P300-million fund disbursed into three cash advances in the last quarter of 2019.

All the cash advances were intended for confidential expenses and none had notice of cash allocations (NCAs) from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

On February 7, Honasan and Rio issued a joint statement highlighting that the expenditures—which is now being questioned by some lawmakers—is “legitimate” and “lawful.”

According to Rio, his relationship with Honasan remained good after his resignation.

On Thursday, Senator Leila De Lima called for a Senate inquiry on DICT’s P300-million intelligence fund. — RSJ, GMA News