Martin Diño moves out of SBMA chairman's office, villa

Former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Martin Diño was given 72 hours to move out of his office, GMA News TV program "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" reported on Friday.

However, Diño had already packed his personal items on Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte, through EO 42, ordered the merging of the SBMA administrator and chairperson posts, which left Diño without a position.

Administrator Attorney Wilma Eisma was set to assume the the newly merged SBMA post.

Eisma had given Diño three days to vacate his office and 14 days to move out of his villa in Subic where he resided as the SBMA chairman.  

Eisma had also ordered SBMA personnel keep a close watch as Diño cleared his office.

"He is now a private citizen. Therefore, he cannot take out official documents anymore. So that's the thing. These guys are doing their jobs. This is not personal," Eisma explained.

Termination letter

Meanwhile, the Palace said there was no need to issue Diño a termination letter since he technically was not removed from the SBMA.

President Duterte confirmed Diño's appointment to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday evening, where he had offer Diño an undersecretary position.

On the interview on state-run People’s Television, Duterte explained why he had merged the two SBMA positions. "Kailangan i-fuse ko position niya (Diño) at position ng administrator kasi there's bickering," Duterte said.

Prior to this clarification, Diño said Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella was not present at a meeting in Malacañang a month ago, during which the president decided on Diño's entry into the Cabinet. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News