‘I offered to resign’ because of endless corruption, says Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — “I offered to resign as President,” President Rodrigo Duterte said in a televised speech Monday night. “I had everyone [in the Cabinet] summoned. I said I was getting fed up. In my years in government, thee had been no end to this [corruption].”

“There’s really no end to this corruption. It’s really hard to stop it,” he went on, speaking partly in Filipino. “Up to now, it’s being committed every day. Can you stop it? You cannot. There’s no way, I’m telling you.”

Duterte said, however, that he would be willing to appear before Congress to discuss how they could fight corruption.

“They should allow me to talk first. Then [we can] discuss how we can cut corruption,” he said.

Also before Congress, he would be willing to discuss how to improve the ease of doing business law.

“What I told Congress was we should limit [the processing of papers] to three days. That’s enough, I’m sure,” Duterte said. “Otherwise, you guys are not doing your work. Three days, if you really put your heart into it and work hard, you can finish the job. Let’s say even one week.”

He added that he had identified one office where papers had been stalled for as long as two years.

“I will name the office probably towards the end of the year,” he said. “I will name you in public and put you to shame — that I am suspecting that you are waiting for some remuneration that is not due you.”

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