In a soliloquy reminiscent of deposed president Joseph Estrada’s inaugural promise “walang kaibigan, walang kumpare at walang kamag-anak” (no friend, no compadre, no relative), President Rodrigo Duterte also issued a stern warning that his fight against corruption would spare no one, not even his “friends, close friends, closest friends.”
Delivering on a promise to dismiss anyone on “just a whiff” of corruption, the President said he had several friends and former political allies whom he chose to dismiss or pushed to resign.
“I don’t have to remind you. I will not hesitate. Friends, close friends, closest friends, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to shape up,” Duterte said in his recent speech Malacañang.
In his two years in office, the President sacked more than 30 officials suspected of graft and corruption since he assumed the presidency in July 2016.
However, all those accused of corruption, excessive travel and accepting bribes have so far gone unpunished or have been rehired.
So far, only former immigration officials Al Argosino and Michael Robles have been put on trial for plunder in connection with the P50-million bribery scandal at the Bureau of Immigration.
In a chance interview, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo defended the reappointment of officials whom the President fired amid suspicions of irregularities.
“It’s not true. Those who are involved in corruption were not reappointed. What they are referring to are those who are not involved. Perhaps the position that they previously occupied do not fit them that’s why there’s a need for a transfer,” Panelo said.
“The President is relentless in fighting corruption. In fact, he has been dismissing left and right officials of the government who are allegedly involved in corruption,” he added.
Panelo also said that firing by the President’s was a warning to all government officials that “no person is exempted from the administration’s high and exacting standards of honesty in public service.”
“Their termination also underscores that the President remains resolute in stamping out corruption in the bureaucracy, which includes offices which are specialized in particular fields of governance. Like the war on drugs, the war on corruption must be fought unremittingly,” Panelo said.
When asked whether the Executive department is looking into the liability of the dismissed officials, Panelo said Malacañang is leaving it to the Department of Justice to look into the allegations.
“You know filing a case is not a simple thing, you have to gather evidence because if you file it without positive evidence, it might be dismissed. It’s useless so you have to really prepare first,” he said.
“The fight against corruption is relentless until the end of his term. It will not stop,” Panelo said.
Some political analysts attested to the seriousness of the tough-talking Duterte insofar as his campaign to get rid of corruption is concerned.
But they also wanted want to see courts and anti-corruption institutions strengthened to go after corrupt officials.
“The President is doing his best reacting quickly to corruption reports by dismissing officials without delay. There is, however, still bothersome talk about Cabinet members favoring their business interests in the conduct of their duties,” Antonio “Butch” Valdes, who heads the Save the Nation Movement, told The Manila Times in an interview.
Valdes cited issues hounding the Bureau of Customs, which the President considers a “corrupt-ridden” agency.
“The Customs issues seems to be most problematic for the President. He has to realize that unless the system of processing imports is changed, the practice of corruption will continue. He needs to enjoin the Philippine embassies from countries of imports to participate in pre-audit activities. Furthermore, there is need to create a parallel Customs organization which takes over from the old organization on a phase by phase basis,” Valdes said.
Overall, Valdes said he would give Duterte a grade of 9 out of 10 for his effort to cleanse the government of corruption, but only a grade of 7 for its results.
In a separate interview, Perlita Frago-Marasigan, political science professor at University of the Philippines Diliman stressed that “due process must be served” as Duterte tries to fulfill his promise to rid his administration of corruption.
“Corruption is a systemic problem that has outlasted several administrations. The current policy of the President to purge the government of erring and corrupt officials is certainly not new,” Marasigan said.
“What is new, however, is how this purging is defeated by administrative actions to rotate or reappoint some of these officials to other positions of power. Hence, it gives the impression that corruption is still there,” she added.
Asked how she would rate Duterte’s anti-corruption crackdown, Marasigan said, “It is difficult to give a quantitative mark but qualitatively, he needs improvement in this area.”
Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, gave Duterte a grade of “60 percent” for his performance in eradicating corruption in government.
“It’s still to address the institutional aspects,” Casiple said.
Assistant Professor Dennis Coronacion, chair of the University of Santo Tomas’ political science department, acknowledged that Duterte was “very serious” in his campaign against corruption but wanted the President to press charges against those he dismissed from their posts.
“The President should not make a distinction between political allies, personal friends, regardless of the background of those officials, whether friend or not, they should be prosecuted altogether or better dismissed from office. They should have the same treatment. He should walk the talk because people are expecting it from him,” Coronacion said.
“I don’t know what reason he has for going soft on corruption. But I like the way that he reacts fast, after it is probed and there seems to be substantial evidence he is corrupt, the President then would immediately act on it. He fires the official right away but this is not enough. There should be a case filed. So, that is what’s lacking, follow up. You just don’t remove an official if you think that he or she committed corruption; you just don’t transfer or get rid of him; you have to file a case against that official,” he added.
Still, Coronacion said he would give Duterte a passing grade for his effort to rid government of corruption.
“I’ll give him a passing mark. In a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I’ll give him a 6. I don’t know if there’s evidence already but those officials who are suspected of conniving and are not serious with the President’s goal of ridding the government of corruption have been fired. It’s a good indication that the President is really serious,” he said.
Duterte has been firing high-ranking officials and heads of offices accused of corruption, excessive travels and abuse of power.
This year alone, Duterte ordered the dismissal of military officials over supposed anomalous transactions at the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ V. Luna Medical Center.
The President also fired the board members and management of Nayong Pilipino Foundation for entering into a supposedly disadvantageous deal with a Hong Kong-based developer for an integrated casino resort project.
The last to get the boot under Duterte’s anti-corruption crackdown in government were undersecretary Ronald Flores and assistant secretary Yeshter Don Baccay of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) Support Services and Panama National Program Management Office.
The two Opapp officials’ alleged involvement in corruption prompted presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza to resign from his post.
The dismissal came five days after Duterte announced that he sacked Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council secretary-general Falconi Millar, who is accused of extortion.
Prior to Millar’s dismissal, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also confirmed on November 19 that Duterte terminated the appointments of social welfare undersecretaries Maria Lourdes Turalde-Jarabe, Mae Fe Ancheta-Templa and Hope Hervilla.
Duterte has also fired his Cabinet members, including former Interior and Local Government secretary Mike Sueno, former Tourism chief Wanda Teo and former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd.
The President also fired former National Irrigation Administration chief Peter Laviña in March last year and former government corporate counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado in May.
Duterte has vowed not to tolerate even just “a whiff of corruption” and has fired high-ranking officials over supposed questionable deals, excessive foreign travels, and conflict of interest.
At least eight officials were given a graceful exit and allowed to file a resignation letter.But their exit was followed by Duterte’s admission that he asked them to step down from office because of their alleged wrongdoing.
The President has remained steadfast in his strong desire to promote a “clean” government under his watch.
“Corruption, it’s one thing that is pulling us down aside from the outside extraneous forces of government operations. So in my time, I will try to maybe just reduce it to the barest minimum, if I cannot totally eradicate it,” Duterte said.
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