PCO's Ruiz vows to divest shares, interests from other businesses

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Ad Interim Secretary Jay Ruiz on Tuesday ensured that he would divest himself of his interests from his businesses following his appointment in the Marcos administration.

''The others [are] ongoing; iyon na ‘yung hindi naging klaro, 'di ba. I’m going to divest in my other company na may possible lang, pero wala naman din conflict of interest, kasi unang-una, restaurant ‘di ba, iyong isa leasing company, so I don’t see any," Ruiz said at a press briefing.

(The others are ongoing; that's what became confusing, right? I’m going to divest in my other company, which has a possible [conflict of interest], but there's no conflict of interest, especially since it's a restaurant while the other one is a leasing company.)

Ruiz, however, mentioned a political management company from which he said he needs to divest his shares.

''I have another company na magda-divest ako – it’s a political management firm na doon malamang may conflict of interest kaya doon ako magda-divest,'' he said.

(I have another company, which I will divest my interest in; it's a political management firm, and maybe there's a conflict of interest there.)

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro earlier said that under the law, Ruiz has 60 days to divest his shares or interests.

Ruiz strongly, meanwhile, earlier denied that he was the owner of Digital8, Inc., the media firm that reportedly bagged millions of pesos worth of contracts from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

He branded this information as fake news, saying that his former colleagues in the media industry did not get his side about the story. —VAL, GMA Integrated News