MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said he asked Rodolfo Salalima to resign as secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) because he was allegedly “favoring” Globe Telecom.

Salalima earlier said he resigned due to “interference” and “corruption,” according to an Inquirer report.  

In a PTV interview aired Thursday, September 28, Duterte pointed out it was he who asked Salalima to quit because it seemed the former DICT chief “was favoring a company.” 

“Maraming nagreklamo sa akin na parang partial siya kasi vice president siya ng Globe eh pero alam ko ‘yun,” Duterte said. (Many people were complaining to me that he seemed partial because he was a vice president of Globe, but I knew about that.)

Salalima, who was Duterte’s classmate at the San Beda College of Law, was Globe’s chief counsel before joining the Duterte Cabinet. He was also senior vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs of the telecommunications giant.

The President continued, “Hindi ko naman sinasabi na may pinoprotektahan siya pero ‘yung ibang mga giant na telecommunications ng China, ng Singapore, wala siyang aksyon.” (I’m not saying he is protecting anyone, but he didn’t act on the requests of telecommunications giants of China, Singapore.)

Duterte also cited a “meeting attended by all,” where Salalima said he learned much from Globe. “Hindi mo naman dapat sabihin ‘yun,” he said. (You’re not supposed to say that.)

An Inquirer source “noted that some of the interference was coming from certain government factions, including pressure to favor certain suppliers in the DICT’s largest project thus far, the P77.9-billion National Broadband project,” the newspaper reported. – Rappler.com