This, even as he cited unverified reports that social welfare funds might have been used by some beneficiaries to boost the arms of the left-leaning groups, apparently referring to the New People’s Army (NPA).
Duterte said, however, that it was he who had ordered Taguiwalo to help the poor, regardless of their ideological leanings.
He said that some government social welfare funds might have been used to buy arms, so he later told Taguiwalo to just give away food, not cash.
In a press conference after meeting the Pampanga and Nueva Ecija officials to ensure them the avian flu crisis was over, Duterte also said he has no one yet in mind to replace Taguiwalo.
“It is difficult to find one,” he stressed.
In the case of the police and the military, however, Duterte admitted being partial to those who had some stint in Davao City when he was still mayor there.
Outgoing Central Luzon police director Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, whom the President has appointed as next head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), had once been assigned in Davao City.
“There are many good people in the air force and the navy but I don’t know them,” the President said.
