Rico Puno resigns

MANILA, Philippines - Controversial Undersecretary Rico Puno on Tuesday announced that he has resigned from his post in the Department of Interior and Local Government.

In a two-page statement released by Malacanang, Puno said he opted to keep silent all this time due to the confidential nature of his job and that he wanted to “thank President Aquino for his trust and confidence in giving me the opportunity to serve the country and the people.”

Puno said that he resigned in support of President Benigno Aquino III's request that newly-installed Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas be given a free hand to choose his own people.

“Moving forward, I have resigned as [Department of Interior and Local Government] Undersecretary to support the President’s decision to give a free hand to the incoming secretary in forming a new team,” he said in his statement.

Puno also touched on reports that he raided the offices and condominium unit of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo last August 19.

He said that he decided to remain silent despite the allegations because he was "duty-bound to act with restraint and circumspection, even when subjected to personal attacks in the mass media."

"Violating the confidential nature of my duets may expose people to danger or jeopardize critical operations... This is why I opted not to react to the speculative accusations that have been hurled against me by some media organizations," he said.

Puno included in his statement the "chronology" of events that supposedly transpired on August 18 and August 19, the days when he and a team of policemen reportedly "raided" the offices and condominium unit of Robredo:

Saturday, August 18, 2012

2045 H (8:45 pm) (Mactan Cebu International Airport)

• Boarded the Cebu Pacific flight to Manila. When I was about to board, the President called and instructed me to secure the offices of Secretary Robredo. I relayed the instructions to Superintendent Oliver Tanseco, deputy chief of the Office of Internal Security in Secretary Robredo’s office.

2230 H (10:30 pm)(NAIA 3 Terminal)

• Arrived in Manila

2330 H (11:30 pm) PNP Director-General’s Quarters, Camp Crame “White House”

• Proceeded to the PNP Director-General’s Quarters. Among those present there were Usec. Austere Panadero, PNP Director-General Nicanor Bartolome, Ms. Joan de la Cruz, a member of Secretary Robredo’s staff and S/Supt. Tanseco.
• The President called again and I reported the offices have been secured.

Sunday, August 19

0900 H (9:00 am)

• Supervised sealing of Secretary Robredo’s Office at DILG Quezon City accompanied by the following: S/Superintendent Joel Pagdilao, Superintendent Oliver Tanseco, Chief Inspector Apollo Togonon and other security officers of Sec. Robredo.

0930 H (9:30 am)

• Informed by Superintendent Tanseco that there were documents inside the residence/condominium of the Secretary.

1000 H (10:00 am)

• Led team to secure Secretary Robredo’s condominium unit; stayed in condominium lobby; instructed team to sign condominium log book to document our presence; left condominium after about 20 minutes.

1030 H (10:30 am)

• Arrived at Camp Crame and supervised sealing of Secretary Robredo’s office; left Camp Crame after about 15 minutes.

1130 H (11:30 am)

•  Arrived at National Police Commission (Napolcom) building in Makati City; supervised sealing of Secretary Robredo’s office; left after about 20 minutes.

1500 H (3:30 pm)

•  Accompanied Secretary of Justice and Presidential Security Group team that performed inspection, sealing and securing of Secretary Robredo’s: a) DILG office; b) condominium unit; c) Camp Crame office; and d) Napolcom office. Entire operations were completed at around 7:00 pm.

Puno stressed that since he was appointed as Undersecretary for Peace and Order in the DILG, he was able to introduce reforms to ensure full transparency of procurement and bidding processes.

“We have streamlined these processes to achieve the President’s objective of getting ‘the biggest bang for the buck’ in providing basic equipment to enable our uniformed personnel to perform their tasks effectively,” he said.

He added: “ I believe that I have carried out my assigned duties to the best of my ability.” with a report from Aurea Calica