‘What reward,’ Palace asks on trip of Duterte Cabinet to Japan
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Wed, 29 May 2019 02:24:17 +0000
PHILIPPINE Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel 5th may have been misinformed or merely speculating after he said the trip to Japan was President Rodrigo Duterte’s “reward” for the overwhelming win of his senatorial candidates in the mid-term elections, Malacanang said on Wednesday.
In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo called Laurel’s claim claim “illogical” since the President prohibited his Cabinet from campaigning.
“It is therefore sans logic that they can be rewarded when they were disallowed from contributing to the reason or cause for the grant of reward,” he said.
“The good Ambassador may have been either innocently speculating for lack of information or may have been misinformed of the nature of the trip of the Cabinet members. The latter’s presence is necessary,” he said.
Panelo also underscored the importance of the relationship of Japan and the Philippines, especially in trading, tourism, infrastructure development, technology and peace and development.
This, then, means that Duterte needs the Cabinet members in the trip.
“The President therefore needs most of his team players, not only as a sign of respect or giving importance to our long-time ally, but we likewise see the need for a stronger cooperation between our governments,” the spokesman said.
“This can be achieved by the constant dialogue by our Cabinet members with their counterparts in the Japanese government, who are, in various ways, involved in our country’s significant transactions with Japan,” he said.
It is also only right for the Filipino community in Japan to see the government officials who are hand-in-hand in “chartering the course of governance that affect their lives, as well as their loved ones, and the rest of the Filipino nation,” Panelo said.
Laurel, in a press briefing on Tuesday, said that the trip to Japan may be a “reward” by Duterte to his Cabinet members following an overwhelming win by his candidates in the mid-term elections.
“This is a reward for the past elections. Why do you bring 20 Cabinet members here, including local government or land reform? There is no land reform here, it is already there with us,” he said.
“I think the President is so elated with the result of mid-term elections that it is an affirmation of his administration in the last three years. That is the truth. It is like a reward, like, ‘Thank you, you have done your jobs,’” Larel said.
Eight Duterte senatorial candidates are in “Magic 12.”
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