Palace: No sacred cows in Duterte administration

President Rodrigo Duterte (File photo by WONG MAYE-E / AP)

After President Rodrigo Duterte admitted to firing 92 government officials this month alone, Malacañang on Sunday reiterated that the administration would not tolerate corruption in its ranks.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the President’s remark “underscores that there are no sacred cows in the Duterte administration.”

“These officials came from different agencies of the government, mostly regulatory bodies, where there is an interface between the public and private sectors.  At present, no breakdown is readily available. Firing of government officials involved in corrupt practices does not come in batches.  Any whiff of corruption, particularly those who serve at the pleasure of the President, means suspension or termination of service in government,” Abella said in a statement.

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“In view of this, we assure our people that in cases where heads have been suspended or terminated, day-to-day government operations will remain unhampered because the duties can be performed by the assistant heads who may be designated as officers-in-charge while the chiefs or heads of office are temporarily absent,” he added.

In a speech in Bukidnon, Duterte on Saturday said he had dismissed 92 people, including his own appointees – mostly from the Land Transportation Office, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Recently, the President fired his former campaign spokesperson Peter Laviña as National Irrigation Administration (NIA) chief amid allegations of milking government irrigation project contractors. JE