Palace says corruption purge now directed to the local governments

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s corruption drive, which was started by the dismissal of his own appointees in the Executive department, will now be directed to local government officials, according to Presidential Spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr.

“The President stated (in the Cabinet meeting last Monday, Jan. 8) that he will continue with the process of cleansing the bureaucracy and that he will now turn more of his attention to local government units (LGUs) including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM),” Mr. Roque told reporters in a press briefing on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

The President, who has vowed to make good on his campaign promise to stop corruption in government including in the awarding of contracts and the use of taxpayers’ money in overseas trips, had recently fired Maritime Industry Authority ( MARINA) administrator Marcial Quirico C. Amaro III and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor ( PCUP) Chair Terry Ridon for their foreign travels.

In October last year, Mr. Duterte signed Executive Order No. 43, creating the Presidential Anti- Corruption Commission ( PACC), which will have the authority to investigate administrative cases, including graft and corruption, of presidential appointees. But observers also regarded the said order as being in response to the Ombudsman’s intent to investigate the Duterte administration.

Mr. Roque said the commission “has been established but it hasn’t been constituted” yet, adding, “But the President has not waited for its constitution before he has started actually the purging of corrupt officials in government.”

“As you know, even without the commission, he has gone ahead and fired many of his presidential appointees….He has shown that with or without it, he has a firm resolve against corruption and he will implement it,” Mr. Roque also explained.

Section 12 of the said Executive Order transfers to the PACC the “investigatory, recommendatory and other incidental functions of the Presidential Anti- graft Commission,” which were earlier transferred to the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA).

Asked whether the “cleansing” of the LGUs is connected also to President Duterte’s campaign against narco- politicians, Mr. Roque said, “I’m sure it’s all connected. But I guess the President mentioned in the Cabinet meeting his resolve also to clean up the ranks of the local government executives to highlight that it’s not just presidential appointees that would be subject to this campaign to promote public accountability but includes everyone in government.”

It will be recalled as well that in his first six months as President, Mr. Duterte had issued a command for law enforcers to shoot on sight the narcoticslinked politicians, saying the damage they have done to the country is unforgivable.