Another exec to get the boot this week
MANILA - In line with his crackdown against corruption in government, President Rodrigo Duterte is poised to axe another public official with the rank of undersecretary this week, Malacañang said Wednesday, April 18.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said he will announce the name of the official in a press conference on Thursday, April 19.
"There's indeed an Undersecretary who is scheduled to be sacked," he said in a television interview, without elaborating.
"On Thursday, I will hold a press briefing at Palace. Perhaps, there will be a formal announcement," he added.
The presidential spokesperson's statement came after Duterte, in a speech Tuesday, April 17, lamented that he booted out "another set of high officials" last week.
Speaking before the newly-appointed government officials, the President said that to his "chagrin," he removed from office those "who went back and forth" to his home city of Davao to convince him to join the 2016 presidential race.
"All along, I really thought that .... I do not want to lose kindness to other people. I don't want to nurture something that I would be suspicious of anybody in front of me," Duterte said in his speech delivered at Palace.
"I do not want to lose my trust in my friend or in an acquaintance. I hate it because I know they meant well. But along the way, irregularities have really cropped up," he added.
Duterte has been fulfilling his promise to get rid of public officials involved even in just a "whiff of corruption."
The President had already fired several officials with high positions in government because of their either incompetence, corruption issue, or excessive foreign travels.
Among those he had previously dismissed were his allies, including then Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, then National Irrigation Authority administrator Peter Laviña, and then Information Communications Technology secretary Rodolfo Salalima. Ruth Abbey Gita/SunStar Philippines