Manila: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said 92 officials were fired in March as part of his campaign promise to end corruption in government.
“The first wave of [campaign against] corruption, it’s finished,” Duterte said in Bukidnon, southern Philippines, on Saturday, a transcript of which reached Malacanang, the presidential palace in Manila.
“I said do not [expletive] the government with its money, because if you do then we cannot understand each other,” Duterte addressed erring officials, in a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony of a P700 million (Dh58.3 million) drug rehabilitation centre.
He did not name sacked officials, which was unusual for a frank Duterte.
Some of those fired were from the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and regulatory board members of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, sources said,
Duterte recalled being sad for sacking Peter Laviña, former administrator of the National Irrigation Administration, for alleged extortion of a contractor. He was fired in early March.
He said he did not allow his personal feelings to stop him from implementing a bigger mission — to end corruption in government. It was a campaign promise.
Laviña was part of Duterte’s local team in Davao City since 1988. Duterte served as mayor of Davao City for 22 years before he was elected president in May 2016.
