Duterte hints at investigation on gov’t official’s luxurious travels
By Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral
Reporter
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday, Aug. 22, said the government is looking into the expensive travels allegedly made by an official who is not under the executive branch as he vowed anew to fight corruption.
“May isang opisyal tayo dito sa gobyerno na tinignan namin ang travel (There is this one government official whose travels are subject of our scrutiny). Hindi sa departamento ko, not the Executive department,” Mr. Duterte told members of the Philippine Air Force Dragon Boat team in a speech at Malacañang.
“Kung mag-sakay ng eroplano, mag-abroad, first class, tapos yung mga hotel niya, yung mga suite. May isang presidential suite pa ang kinuha. Tang ina (That official went abroad sitting first class and even stayed in a presidential suite. Son of a bitch),” he added.
The President then recalled again the numerous occasions where he fired allegedly corrupt government workers and said that the details of the trips made by the unnamed official will “come out.”
“I said, ‘I will stop corruption.’ And I’m doing it. I have fired several people now,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a chance interview yesterday, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella declined to identify the official that the President referred to in his speech, telling reporters to wait for “clear” details.
Mr. Abella also did not confirm when asked by journalists if Mr. Duterte was referring to Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, who could possibly be facing impeachment complaints in Congress.
Early this month, the SC granted the request of two groups for documents that will support their impeachment case against the High Court’s head.
The impeachment case, however, will have to be endorsed by a lawmaker to be formally lodged in the House committee on justice for hearing.
Malacañang earlier said Mr. Duterte, with whom Ms. Sereno had been at loggerheads since June last year, will take his hands off the case.
The complainants’ memorandum flagged several administrative orders by Ms. Sereno, including the appointment of Atty. Brenda Jay Mendoza as chief of Philippine Mediation Center of the Philippine Judicial Academy, granting foreign travels and allowance to staff of the Office of the Chief Justice, and “long delay” of appointment of posts.
Mr. Duterte won the 2016 elections on a platform of weeding out corruption and crime by implementing on a national level hardline measures that he imposed during his more than two-decade mayoralty in Davao City.
He had sacked several high-ranking government officials accused of graft and corruption, including aides whom he appointed and were close to him.
“I will never tolerate corruption in my administration, not even a whiff of it. Let the dismissal of several high-ranking officials — whom I myself appointed — serve as a warning to all that I will never back down on my commitment to cleanse this government and corporation,” he said during his second State of the Nation Address.
