DAVAO CITY — Without blinking an eye, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the dismissal from service Monday of another group of government personnel due to corruption, reiterating his resolve to fight the menace that has been going on for decades.
In his televised Talk to the People, the President announced the dismissal of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) personnel Nora Halamani and Abolais Ampa, both Revenue Officer III, for demanding P400,000 bribe in exchange of approval of signed tax payment forms for the settlement of Dealco Farms purported tax liabilities.
Also dismissed from the service was local government official Antonio Palanca, a Palawan Provincial Health Officer, for malversation of public funds or property.
He has been charged of misappropriating P250,000 from the illegal sale of 16,728 tons of iron steel from the demolished building of the Brooke’s Point District Hospital in Palawan.
“Sabi ninyo may corruption, may corruption talaga sa gobyerno. Iyong mga empleyado doon matagal na, halos tag-25 years. Ikaw ang manghinayang,” President Duterte said in announcing the dismissals.
“Kung sabihin ninyo corruption sa gobyerno, matagal na ‘yan, noon pa ‘yan. Nag-umpisa ‘yan hindi sa panahon ko. Kaya magdahan-dahan ng salita. ‘Pag sinabi ko “ayaw ko ng corruption,” ‘pag inabutan ka, patay ka,” he added.
Eliminating graft and corruption in government was one of the President’s campaign pledges when he ran for president in 2016, along with putting an end to the proliferation of illegal narcotics and criminality.
