During the fl ag ceremony attended by CDC employees, Tugade, known as a supporter of Duterte, said he did not want to appear Janus-faced or “doble cara” amid the confl ict between his support for Duterte, who is the candidate of the PDP-Laban party, and his being an appointee of Pres. Aquino who is batting for Roxas.
While Tugade did not name Duterte as his presidential candidate, he remarked during the fl ag ceremony that “you know who my candidate is” and that such confl ict borne of his preference was the main reason for his resignation. He has been well known in CDC as a supporter and close friend of Duterte.
In a forum with the Clark Investors and Locators’ Association (CILA) that guested Duterte here last year, Tugade said he and Duterte were classmates in law school at the San Beda College. Tugade was reportedly at the top of their class, while Duterte was allegedly at the bottom. At the time of the forum, Duterte had been denying presidential plans although leaflets were distributed urging him to seek the presidency.
In April last year, Tugade was reported to have announced his resignation before the CDC board, prompted by what insiders said was “the low performance ratings he got from his peers. He later denied having resigned.
Last Monday, however, he announced his resignation, reportedly irrevocable, eff ective this April 22, before CDC employees gathered for the usual Monday fl ag ceremony.
Tugade also said his decision to resign was also prompted by health considerations, but he did not give details. He was reported to have suff ered from a mild stroke during a recent trip abroad, while others said he has been ailing from a backbone dislocation.
Tugade, who was appointed by the President to the CDC top post in December, 2012, is known to have restored CDC to fi nancial health by effi cient collection of lease receivables and undertaking measures to boost the use of idle lands already awarded to investors before his term.
He has also removed graft and corruption in the CDC by strictly enforcing “no gifts policy” for CDC personnel dealing with investors.
Tugade is the founder of Perry’s Holding Corporation, the management arm for Perry’s Group of Companies which includes Trabsglobal Equipment Leasing, Perry’s Technology, ATP Travel, Perryome, Perry’s Farm, Transglobal Trucking, and Trasglobal Consolidators, Inc.
