MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte bared that he once considered replacing Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero for his failure to get rid of an alleged corrupt BOC employee.
In a taped speech aired Tuesday morning, Duterte slammed Guerrero’s former Chief of Staff Teodoro Jumamil for working at the BOC while serving as director at the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Guerrero reportedly fired Jumamil in July 2019 due to allegations of corruption.
“I have to name him publicly, for being… ano bang tawag ko sa iyo, sa bisaya nalang. Put**** ***, balasubas ka eh. Alam mo bakit bisaya ka? Ang mahirap sayo sa panahon ko you took advantage maybe because you helped me… I cannot understand why he was holding DBP director at the same time he was an employee of the customs,” Duterte said, referring to Jumamil.
The President then bared that he has asked Guerrero to fire Jumamil.
“Sabi ko kay Jagger, ‘Bitawan mo ‘yan, ‘pag hindi, sisirain ka.’ Eh malapit talaga siyang nasira,” Duterte said, addressing Guerrero this time.
“I was considering… Jagger, I was considering of replacing you. Not because of anything, I can vouch na malinis ka. The problem is you do not entertain loyalties, especially in government. If you think that that idiot is going to destroy you, you destroy him first,” he added.
In January, reports that Guerrero was on his way out of the corruption-ridden agency surfaced after Duterte supposedly offered the top BOC post to Davao City businessman William de Jesus Lima.
But Duterte denied the report, saying that he is still satisfied with the work of the former military chief.