Puno Off The Hook

REINA MERCEDES, Isabela – President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday defended his long-time friend, Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Rico Puno, from criticisms and even gave him “practical tips” on how to perform better.

The President admitted that Puno committed lapses in performing his functions and dealing with two major controversies, but he has already called the DILG official’s attention on the matter.

President Aquino revealed that there was a campaign to damage the credibility of Puno, now embroiled in alleged involvement in illegal gambling and in bungling the resolution of the Aug. 23 Hong Kong tourist hostage crisis.

“We've been together for a very long time. There is really a campaign to disparage his reputation for instance. Up to now, nobody said he's also an agriculturist. They developed the machines, specifically for rice and they implemented them in Tarlac,” he told reporters before attending the 7th Philippine National Corn Congress here.

“He has a lot of skills, but if you look at reports, it appears that he’s just a bystander in the shooting range. He’s a UPLB (University of the Philippines-Los Baños) graduate,” the President said of Puno.

The President said he has raised “eight or nine points” with Puno during their recent talk upon his arrival from the United States.

“The last time I talked to him I pointed out so many errors – how he answered, how he prepared for the questions. The trust was misplaced,” he said.

In explaining the misplaced trust of Puno, the President said: “I told him to do certain things. He entrusted the activities to certain other people, and these people did not push through, did not carry through.”

The President said he talked to Puno about the hostage incident, the “jueteng” controversy, and “other things,” but the discussion centered on “practical tips” on how Puno should perform his functions as well as deal with the media.

“There are a lot of practical tips on the things that have to be done and how they should be done,” he said. “We had a meeting of the minds,” he said.

The President said the people will know if Puno would be penalized for any involvement in the hostage fiasco when he issues the action plan this Sunday.

Puno earlier said the President asked him to stay in the DILG despite being implicated in receiving jueteng payoffs and the botched hostage rescue in Manila last August. He offered his resignation to the President to clear his name but the Chief Executive apparently declined.

Leak probed
Meanwhile, President Aquino ordered an investigation into the unauthorized leaks of a partial government report on the August 23 hostage incident.

The President said the Palace is tracing the source of the leak of the half-done document as he promised to release his official action plan on who should be held responsible for the hostage fiasco, probably Monday.

“We are tackling the leak,” the Chief Executive told reporters during his visit here. “Not only the leak but there are others, too. He is trying to trace who had copies, where they were. I’m not certain which of the copies because there have been revisions,” he added.

The President had earlier ordered the release of the report made by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) on the hostage crisis to the public, but withheld portions concerning its recommendations. The IIRC recommendations, which included the filing of charges against a dozen individuals and three major media networks, were placed under legal review by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa.

The document, which revealed a “downgrade” of the charges that will be filed against certain public officials, found its way to several media agencies in recent days. The Palace has insisted that the President’s action plan on the hostage incident is not yet final and will be released only on Monday.

The President, meantime, attributed the delay of his decision dealing with the hostage incident due to a thorough study on the “legal and political dimensions” of the IIRC report.

He admitted he was not satisfied with the IIRC report made by a government panel as it was insufficient due to lack of specific charges against those who will be charged for the lapses in the hostage crisis last month.

“The first report given to me was not that clear. What are the conclusions that should be supported, what are the cases to be filed? Parang nabitin ako sa recommendations sa review (It seems I was left hanging on the recommendations in the review),” he said.

He also said it was “not easy” what the IIRC wanted him to do, specifically file either administrative or criminal charges against certain individuals for the bungled hostage rescue.

Genalyn Kabiling, Manila Bulletin