Duterte fires gov’t corporate counsel

May 29, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte fired on Monday Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado for supposed proliferation of gambling in the country due to the legal opinion he penned.

"May I call the Government Corporate Counsel now. Are you here? Because if you're here, go out, son of a bitch. You are fired," Duterte said in a speech during the signing ceremonies of the two bills into laws in Malacanang.

"I do not need you and maybe you do not need me," he said, citing the granting of franchise to Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO).

"You know that APECO was granted a franchise, freeport and everything, and there's always that accompanying provision about gambling," he said.

Reports said that Jurado came out with a legal opinion allowing APECO to approve a 75-year permit to a casino operator and also grant license in areas outside the economic zone.

"When you are granted a franchise to conduct gambling in a certain facility, it does not include farming out that franchise to other cities and provinces. If it's like that, you can ramble on following your theory, you can ramble on to give permits beyond the shores of Luzon and you can do it in Siasi, Jolo," he said.

"So you are just like PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corpo.) operating an independent entity with the same powers that you grant everything," Duterte added.

Duterte said he did not like gambling because of his bad experience when he was young.

Under the law, OGCC acts as a counsel for government corporations. As the common lawyer to various government-owned and controlled corporations, it has the role of arbitrating and resolving conflicts between them. Celerina Monte/DMS