President: ‘I fired two officials’
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Saturday, April 21, announced that he has fired at least two officials “because of graft and corruption.”
“The other day I fired two, one [is an] undersecretary,” Mr. Duterte said in his speech during the 24th National Federation of Motorcycle Clubs of the Philippines (NFMCP) Annual Convention held in Legazpi City, Albay.
The President did not mention the names of the officials he fired.
He added: “At tsaka mag-warning ako sa inyo ha (And I warn you). I said, when you are fired, it is because of graft and corruption.”
Mr. Duterte said the two officials made some of their applicants return to their offices many times. “Yung pabalik ng pabalik sa opisina, ‘yan ang dahilan (Those who would always ask applicants to return to their offices again and again, that’s the reason). ‘Yung finire out ko (I fired them).
However, the President said he has no evidence.
“Wala akong ebidensya, pero kung magbalik ‘yung tao, may affidavit ako.” (I do not have evidence but once the person comes back, I have an affidavit.)
“I mean, independent of the knowledge of the complainant, wala naman talaga ako doon sa harap mo eh (I was not there in front of you). But tinignan ko ‘yung (I looked at the) records. [I saw] applicants [returning to the office] six times, seven times, eight times,” the President said.
Presidential Spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque Jr. said last week that resigned labor undersecretary Dominador R. Say would have been fired by the President “for the corruption he knows about” if he did not step down.
Also in his speech on Saturday, the President took a swipe at the undersecretary.
“And here comes the guy saying, ah, hindi kami magka-intindihan sa Endo kasi ganun, ganun,” he said. (Here comes the guy saying, [he resigned] because we’ve had disagreements on the Endo [end-of-contract scheme issue], and so on.)
“You better shut up or tell the truth immediately. Kasi ‘yung affidavit na pinirmahan sa harap ko, bibitawan ‘yan, ibigay ko sa media (Because the affidavit signed in front of me will be released to the media),” Mr. Duterte said, adding: “Then I would ask the… to endorse it to the Ombudsman.” — Arjay L. Balinbin
