DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 Nov) — Fired or resigned?
President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Thursday afternoon that he had just fired “a certain Millar,” the Secretary-General of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), for alleged corruption but HUDCC Undesecretary Falconi Ace Millar, a lawyer and certified public accountant, claimed he was a victim of a “demolition job” and that he had resigned Thursday morning,
“Just before I left my office, I signed a dismissal order ‘yung secretary-general ng Housing. A certain Mil, Millar. Binabasa ko ‘yung resume kanina tinitignan ko ‘yung termination and knew what a deep shit the guy has created for him. Valedictorian sa Law class and everything. But I don’t know,” Duterte said at the inauguration of the Cavite Gateway Terminal.
Somehow along the way, somehow along the way, I’ve been with government as a public prosecutor, a fiscal, then as mayor for 23 years in Davao. Marami akong nakita. Along the way, corruption creeps in. And mahirap talaga… (it’s so difficult). You know when you are there, secretary-general, you have the power, you have the authority. You can do corruption and it can corrupt you, give you a little or it corrupts you absolutely. So power corrupts and sometimes it is really you want your money to go to your pocket almost everyday,” the President said.
Millar was head of Secretariat of the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) and the Selection Committee for the supposed Joint Venture Agreement scheme for the Marawi rehabilitation.
“Demolition job”
“It is an obvious demolition job,” he told MindaNews in a text message.
“In protecting the interest of the government, I have annoyed and crossed some personalities, I filed my resignation this morning. It is the government’s loss not mine,” said Millar, Class Valedictorian of his batch at the Manuel L. Quezon University School of Law.
He urged government to “dig deeper and investigate the persons behind the demolition job,” adding “I just want to pray and reflect right now.”
Undersecretary Falconi Ace Millar briefs reporters on the Marawi rehabilitation efforts during the Mindanao Media Forum on “Reporting Mindanao: Peace, Martial Law and Marawi Rehab” on November 16, 2018 in Davao City. President Rodrigo Duterte announced in Cavite Thursday afternoon that he had fired Millar but Millar said he tendered his resignation Thursday morning. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA
In a brief telephone interview, Millar spoke of “this shady character” whom he declined to name, as among those behind the “demolition job.”
He said he tendered his resignation as Undersecretary and as head of the TFBM Secretariat on Thursday morning.
He said his resignation letter was on the desk of Housing Secretary and TFBM chair Eduardo del Rosario.
Del Rosario did not respond to MindaNews’ query on Millar’s resignation or termination.
Millar was with Del Rosario here in Davao City last Friday, November 16 at the Mindanao Media Forum on “Reporting Mindanao: Peace, Martial Law and Marawi Rehab.” (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
