SEOUL — President Rodrigo Duterte defended his decision to keep embattled Solicitor General Jose Calida, despite accusations that there was conflict of interest in his family-owned security firm bagging multi-million-peso contracts with various government agencies. Speaking before the Filipino community at the Grand Hilton hotel here, the President asked why he should fire Calida when he knew all along that the solicitor general had inherited the security agency from his father, a soldier. “I know that because he’s from Davao and that was the family business,” President Duterte explained. The President clarified that his Cabinet members are not allowed to transact business and do not get involved with government contracts, only policies. /eeREAD: Palace: No conflict of interest in Calida security firm’s P150-M deals with gov’t

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 04, 2018 12:11 UTC