President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that it’s his decision to let National Capital Region Police Office chief Debold Sinas stay in his position after the mañanita controversy on his birthday.
During his televised address, Duterte said that it’s really hard to replace Sinas for now as he’s a competent general.
“Ako yung ayaw na malipat siya. He is a good officer, he’s an honest one. Hindi niya kasalanan kung may mangharana sa kanya sa birthday niya,” the President stated.
According to him, he felt that Sinas should not be replaced just because his colleagues surprised him on his birthday.
“‘Yung hindi naka-mask, syempre may merienda iyan, alangan naman kainin nila pati mask. Edi tangalan talaga nila, kainan ‘yun eh,” Duterte said.
“Hindi ako sang ayon… pinag aralan ko ‘yung merit, e kailangan ko ‘yung tao, mas kailangan ko ‘yung tao dito sa trabahong ito, marami yan sila.. they’re all competent, but you know, seniority, it is his time to be there, and I don’t believe in firing him dahil kinantahan siya ng “Happy Birthday”. Mañanita nga,” he added.
However, Duterte expressed jealousy about what happened to Sinas, saying that no one visited him during his birthday last March.
Duterte also believes that the General would refuse if he was informed about the Mañanita.
“Noong birthday ko walang kumanta sa akin, ako lang mag isa, all by myself.. alam niyo ako nalang ‘yung kumanta sa sarili ko, ‘happy birthday to you, happy birthday to me’, well kanya kanya lang ‘yan, I’m sure kung alam niya na bibisitahin siya, hindi siya papayag,” he said.
“Nandyan na rin, Mañanita, sabihan mo na ‘the law is the law’ akin na ‘yun, it’s my responsibility, but I will not order… he will stay there until further orders,” he added.
Sinas faced a tremendous amount of criticisms after photos during his birthday were uploaded on social media.
The general was already facing charges for allegedly violating social distancing rules and failing to wear a facemask.
He shared that the controversy put his morale to the lowest but now he’s already recovered.
“Low morale, siyempre nandiyan ‘yan. But I recovered and I show sa mga tao ko na that’s part of the game, that’s part of leadership… Part sa trabaho ‘yan, part sa batikos ‘yan, ‘di ba,” he said.