The untouchable Puno

DILG undersecretary Rico Puno tried to gain entry into the private condominium unit and offices of the late Secretary Jesse Robredo, Why would the Undersecretary of the DILG want to enter a private home without a search warrant, even before the mourning of Jesse Robredo started requires a satisfactory explanation from Puno.

If the intention was simply to secure the private quarters and office of a missing Cabinet member, a police contingent could have done the job.

A hint of the Puno problem hit the public consciousness early in the Aquino’s administration when he said in an interview that the President would hesitate to touch him. Even if he was that untouchable, it was unethical for him to have said so.

Reports gave the impression that Puno was looking for documents in the possession of Robredo who had been quietly investigating alleged irregularities where the name of Puno was being mentioned. Puno may have been worried about incriminating documents possibly surfacing from Robredo’s files.

There are important areas involving Puno’s control and supervision like major purchases of the PNP and the unabated problem of the illegal numbers game of jueting and the attendant of corruption. Documents showed the DILG’s investigation report on the planned purchase of assault rifles in 2 batches costing nearly P178 million and P213 million. According to reports, Robredo had wanted a review of the price for the assault rifles.

Document on the firearms deal revealed the Puno, President Aquino’s man with direct control of the PNP travelled to Israel upon the invitation of weapons manufacturer Israel Military Industries.

There could be a sensible explanation for all these events that took place even before Robredo’s body had been extracted from the plane that has nose-dived into the sea of Masbate. The longer that explanation is withheld, the more suspicious the public becomes of the real story. With speculation on the multimillion peso sweetheart deal involving assault rifles from Israel, the government of P-Noy should enlighten the public about the real score.

By: Joey E. Clarin

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