MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he would fire officials and employees of an entire commission who he said were involved in an anomalous activity.
“On Monday, I will fire about one commission mismo, lahat sila. Wala akong pakialam kung nakisali lahat o dalawa, tatlo, you have to go out. I don’t think it will exist without your knowledge,” Duterte said in a speech during the 84th anniversary celebration of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Bulacan.
Duterte did not name the commission or discuss details of the supposed misdeeds of its officials and personnel.
“Even a whiff, bulung-bulungan lang, I will call you and say you are fired,” he said.
Duterte won the presidency on a platform of eradicating corruption in government and ending the country's illegal drug problem.
The President has just created an anti-corruption commission with broad powers to go after his appointees and other erring government officials.
It has been his habit to declare in public his decision to fire some of his appointees due to allegations of corruption or incompetence.
In May, Duterte fired Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Benjamin Reyes for supposedly contradicting the government’s official data on drug addicts in the country.
In April, he sacked Cabinet Undersecretary Maia Chiara Halmen Reina Valdez for overruling National Food Authority Administrator Jason Aquino's decision to suspend rice importation during harvest season in the Philippines. Valdez denied the allegations.
The President also axed Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno due to corruption allegations involving the country's purchase of firetrucks from an Austrian firm.
Sueno maintained he was not corrupt and said the President may have been fed wrong information. The fire truck deal still proceeded after his sacking.
The President had also fired Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Anna Rosario Paner for hiring consultants who earn as much as P200,000 monthly.
Duterte has said he would not tolerate even a “whiff” of corruption from any government employee.
The President himself is facing investigation over his and his family's wealth. He has maintained he was not hiding riches from the public.