In June 2021, Gabunada was offered a consultancy contract by the Department of Finance,
Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) head Undersecretary Gil Beltran said Gabunada was hired by the Department to “assist the DOF in developing brand and communications strategy for the DOF to aid in the swift passage of the remaining packages of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) plus other priority government measures and align system-wide communications covering the DOF and its attached agencies.”
Beltran said Gabunada was tapped to help raise public awareness over, and support for, the Duterte administration’s remaining priority measures such as its pending economic bills and proposed capital market development reforms that are being pushed by the DOF in the third and final session of the 18th Congress.
Gabunada’s consultancy fee of P909, 122.40 for six months is reasonable for this type of highly technical service and complies with all procurement laws and rules, Beltran added.
Source: (https://www.dof.gov.ph/gabunada-contract-aboveboard-dof/)
In the aftermath to this incident, Gabunada declined the consultancy offer.
Edwin Espejo wrote about the circumstances surrounding this incident in the fifth of his seven part series.
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Decapitating the ‘trolls’ of Duterte
Fifth of a series
By Edwin Espejo
June 30, 2021
Despite the long absence already of Gabunada from Facebook and the disabling ‘hundreds’ of pro-Duterte accounts and pages, Duterte’s netizen supporters continue to dominate the social network platform.
It is with this sustained and continuing dominance that contributed bad beating of the opposition candidates in the 2019 mid-term elections. None of the Liberal Party candidates in its senatorial slate, including incumbents, won.
Moreover, despite the incessant attacks on Duterte, his popularity rating has never been dented and he continues to maintain a high trust rating from Day One and at noon exactly a year today before his presidency expires in 2022.
Unable to penetrate the almost impregnable gauntlet Duterte has built over the years, his critics are back targeting the core of Duterte supporters including their perceived ‘operators.’
It is by no mere coincidence that Gabunada is again being targeted as the political season is again heating up.
The articles regarding the contract he signed with the Department of Finance was maliciously filled with innuendos and the double entrende by the mainstream media in their headlines. It was not after Gabunada hit back with a statement that his lawyers are evaluating the stories did they reach out to him and got his side. But not after publishing them without even attempting to interview him.