President Rodrigo Duterte has fired the government corporate counsel for allegedly granting gambling franchise to the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport (Apeco).

“You are fired, I do not need you and maybe you do not need me,” Duterte spoke about Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado in a speech during the ceremonial signing of two laws in Malacañang on Monday.

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“There are thousands of lawyers waiting there for an appropriate opportunity to work in government. All I have to do is to look around,” Duterte added.

Duterte said he fired Jurado for allegedly granting Apeco a franchise, which is solely done by government regulator Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).

“May I call the government corporate counsel are you in this, andito ka (are you here)? Kasi kung andito ka lumabas ka p********. You are fired, I do not need you and maybe you do not need me,” Duterte said.

“Kung ‘di ka ba naman gago (What a fool.) So you are just like a Pagcor operating an independent entity with the same powers you grant anything. Kung di ba naman tarantado (What a fool),” the President said.

However, according to previous reports, Jurado said he did not grant a gambling franchise to Apeco, but signed a legal opinion allowing the authority to operate outside its jurisdiction as long as it is within Philippine Economic Zone Authority territory./vvp

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