Mar denies seeking Ochoa, Purisima ouster

MANILA, Philippines - Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II denied yesterday asking President Aquino to sack Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima.

In a statement, Roxas said his reported interruption of a conversation between President Aquino and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima in Malacañang to ask for the resignation of Ochoa and Purisima did not happen.

“It’s all a lie that shows lack of professionalism,” he said in Filipino.

He appealed to the newspaper that ran the story “to get your facts straight and not rely on the imagination of your sources or spin doctors.” 

The source of the newspaper report claimed that Roxas had told Aquino: “If you don’t fire Purisima, you will fall. That would trigger your downfall.”

Roxas also wanted Ochoa sacked for funding the Mamasapano operation, the report added.

Malacañang also “categorically denied” yesterday that Roxas had “barged into a meeting” between Aquino and Purisima.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement that the alleged meeting with Purisima on Feb. 3 did not push through and that “the article is premised on something that never took place.”