Duterte swears in new appointees
Hundreds of appointees were sworn in yesterday by President Duterte, who reiterated he would not tolerate any form of corruption under his watch.
Duterte said he was bent on fulfilling his campaign promise to give the country a respite from corruption.
“Even a whiff of corruption in my Cabinet, I will fire them,” he said.
The President also asked the appointees to cooperate with his effort to lessen the processing time of government documents.
“In NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority), applications used to take the infamous three years, two years, five years. All Cabinet secretaries are only given one month to act on the papers,” he said.
“The directors… they are only given 15 days. You must be the first to report and last to leave my office,” he added.
Among those who took their oath was Narciso Santiago, husband of the late former senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. He has been appointed presidential adviser for revenue enhancement.
Other officials who took their oath of office include agriculture undersecretary Evelyn Laviña, wife of resigned National Irrigation Administration (NIA) chief Peter Laviña; retired Marine general Natalio Ecarma, who has been named customs deputy commissioner; former rebel soldier Gerardo Gambala, who has also been named customs deputy commissioner; Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council in Cordillera and chairman of the Cordillera Regional Development Council; and Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, regional peace and order council chair in Metro Manila.
Other appointees who were sworn in were social welfare assistant secretary Lorraine Badoy, who recently created a controversy for sarcastically asking the European Union to watch child pornography; Quirino Gov. Junie Cua, who has been named chair of the Cagayan Valley Regional Development Council; furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue, who is now co-chair of the Central Visayas Regional Development Council; former television reporter and Miss Earth contestant Pircelyn Pialago, now the spokesperson for the Metropolitan Manila Development Au- thority; government implementing panel for the peace accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Irene Santiago; former basketball player Ramon Fernandez, new commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director-general Guiling Mamondiong; Government Service Insurance System chairman Francisco Duque III; and former military chief Ricardo Visaya, who is now NIA administrator.
Three special envoys to China, namely Carlos Chan, Wallie Lee and William Lima; special envoy to Australia Miguel Ayala; special envoy to the United States Jose Antonio; and special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Almarim Tillah also took their oaths of office.