President: I dismiss only the corrupt

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

DAVAO CITY — The days of government officials on the take are numbered if President Rodrigo Duterte keeps his word.

On Monday, the President said the officials he had fired were only those involved in corruption.

“I said I do not allow corruption so it means whoever got hit, it’s (because of) corruption,” he said.

The President has dismissed several ranking government officials, including appointees, over allegations of corruption. They included National Irrigation Administrator Peter Laviña and Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno.

When he came to power in 2016, the President said his administration would be composed of the “best and the brightest.”

But a number of his appointees had barely warmed their seats when he fired them.

Standards

Asked by the Inquirer what was happening, he said “there are standards to follow.”

“If you fall short of that standard, I’m sorry,” the President said during a press briefing before he flew to China to address an international economic summit and to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He repeated his statement that he did not care if the official who got fired was a friend or a supporter of his.

“We may be friends, you might be a supporter of mine but there are rules to be followed and boundaries to honor,” he said.

Mr. Duterte reiterated that there was no compromise if it was in the interest of the people.

“If my country’s good is on the line, we do not talk anymore. I do not allow corruption to seep in, [not] during my term,” he said.

‘No special treatment’

But he said firing officials was not the end of his campaign against corruption.

“Corruption cases, I send it. Everybody. There is no special treatment. If the complaint reaches me, I send it direct to the Ombudsman,” he said.

Eduardo Año, officer in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said he had told the newly appointed Philippine National Police chief, Director Oscar Albayalde, to rid the PNP of “bad eggs.”

“My first instruction to incoming PNP chief Albayalde is to go after PNP personnel who are a disgrace to their uniform, especially those who are Awol (absent without leave), sleeping, nonperforming and drinking on the job,’’ Año said in a statement.

“All wayward policemen should be removed from service.” he said. —Reports from Allan Nawal and Nikko Dizon