MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to fire “many” government officials before his scheduled trip to China later this month to attend an infrastructure forum.
In a speech in Bacolod City on Thursday evening, Duterte said that he will fire officials before his departure for the second Belt and Road forum from April 26 to 27.
“Ngayon ‘pag ikaw nasa corruption, alis ka. At sunod…next week when I fly back to report to work before I leave for China, marami akong tatanggalin,” Duterte said.
This was the second time in the past few days that Duterte announced his plans to remove officials for corruption but refused to provide details about who and which agency will be affected by the crackdown.
“Hinihintay ko lang ‘yung report nila. But sabi ko na, ‘you give me your report and if I find it justifiable, you can stay. Pero kung may corruption, I’m sorry,” added the president.
Duterte won the presidency during the 2016 national elections on a platform of eradicating corruption in the government and ending the country’s illegal drug problem.
The chief executive have since fired several officials due to alleged corruption and, in 2017, he created an anti-corruption commission with broad powers to go after his appointees and other erring government officials./PN
