As much I would not want to comment on the P60-million ad placement deal scandal, I have no choice but to do so because it has turned into such a stench of irregularity involving a Cabinet member of President Rodrigo Duterte. Knowing the President is against “any whiff of anomaly” (his words) involving his official family, we can expect Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo to get the axe.
The controversy has snowballed that opposition lawmakers now want her to resign or be fired. The militant Makabayan party list bloc demanded Teo’s resignation out of delicadeza. Anakpawis Rep. Arnel Casilao said the law is clear—she should resign.
Will Ms. Teo spare President Duterte the task of firing her? Before the stinking super deal, no one even knew Secretary Wanda Teo was a Tulfo. But she is a Tulfo and the law prohibits appointing or doing a deal with a government official’s immediate relative. The Teo-Tulfo deal is a clear case of corruption and conflict of interest. It took the CoA to expose the anomaly and some quarters are wondering why President Duterte has been silent about it. ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio joined the chorus of lawmakers calling for Teo’s resignation.
According to the CoA report published in its website, the P60 million was in several checks for PTV 4 to air DoT’s advertising in three-minute and six-minute commercials in the brothers Tulfo (Ben and Erwin) segment of the program “Kilos Pronto. The program has many listeners among the masses, particularly taxi and jeepney drivers.
Secretary Teo claimed she did not know anything about the DoT’s multimillion ad placement on her brother Ben’s radio TV commentary program on People’s TV 4. But the Commission on Audit found it hard to believe that the head of a major government department would not know anything about a deal involving millions of pesos. That’s practically admitting she does not know anything about what’s going on in her department.
If so, then who signed the deal on behalf of the DoT allocating P60 million for the Tulfo media outlet? There must be some kind of Wonder Woman in the DoT who has more power than Secretary Teo. Now, that’s a wanda for the tourism lady boss not to know about it.
Chinese chef and his chicharon
For eating a piece of chicharon, a Filipina waitress Rutcher Taer was beaten up by a Chinese chef in a Pasay restaurant. The victim complained to police she was hit from behind and pinned to the floor by the Chinese named Wang Chung Ping who stepped on her back. The victim said Wang also often shouted invectives at her. Perhaps he wanted to taste her but she won’t let him?
This abusive Chinese must think the Philippines is already a province of China and he can do anything he wants against our people. No wonder Taiwan is resisting being taken over by mainland China.
Filipinos need not go work in the Middle East to be abused by their Arab employers. They can be abused right here in their own country. Have we gotten so low no one respects us anymore? Winning international beauty pageant titles like Miss Universe, Miss World or Miss International does not really elevate us a people. Singapore which has yet to win any world beauty title is respected for its educational attainment and its robust economy.
The Chinese chef, Bureau of Immigration investigators found out, was an undocumented alien who was working without the necessary papers. Deportation is too easy for this cruel SOB. He should be cooked in boiling oil and made into chicharon. If he likes chicharon so much he should just buy the popular brand Lapid’s. One thing about Lapid—just add the letter “A” at the end and it comes out as “lapida” or the Tagalog word for grave marker.