[BenarNews] Philippine President Duterte said he had accepted the resignation of his chief peace adviser Tuesday, as the nation was preparing for a January 2019 plebiscite to ratify a Muslim autonomy law in the south.Duterte did not give any reason for Jesus Dureza’s resignation as presidential adviser on the peace process, but his surprise announcement came at the same time that he divulged that he had also fired two of Dureza’s top men on allegations of corruption.
He suggested in his speech that Dureza was not implicated in corruption in an anti-poverty program for residents in insurgency-wracked areas. Duterte said, “I am very sad that I accepted the resignation of Secretary Dureza.”
Dureza is considered one of the Duterte’s closest and trusted aides, having been a longtime friend and a former classmate of the president. In his November 27 resignation letter to the president, Dureza said he had informed Duterte as early as November 6 about allegations of corruption involving his two men.
Dureza’s resignation came more than a month before the south holds a special plebiscite aimed at ratifying the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). Duterte signed the BOL in July last year – four years after the previous government signed a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The plebiscite is to take place in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. It will also include six towns in Lanao del Norte and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan.