DAVAO CITY (May 10) — President Rodrigo R. Duterte is sad everytime he “let go” of some government officials close to him, because of alleged misconduct and corruption.
But he stressed “I will stand on my promise to cleanse this government of corruption, that is my vow, I am doing it for the country.”
Duterte who always cherish friendship said it is not easy for him to part ways but he has to do it.
On Wednesday night, Duterte said “You know, if you’d notice, karamihan kong nawala sa akin (most of the ones I’ve lost) are the very first person who…but I’m very sad that they are the very first to go, early on as Cabinet member…”
He said when he was not ready to run, they are those people who convinced him to run to institute change, but when they were appointed, things changed.
“But just the same…there’s no way of telling. Yung maglapit sa’yo ng ganun-ganun (That someone approaches you) and you thought you might ever fall into the trap of believing na (that) you are with the crowd for change,” he added.
The President said that while he appreciated how some government officials would take foreign trips to benefit the country, he did not approve of junkets.
“You know, if you go to other places to attend important meetings that may affect the country, I would appreciate it. If it’s really…work, task,” Duterte said.
“Pero kung (But if it’s), climate change dito sa (here in) Brussels, then climate change sa (in) Tokyo, climate change dito sa (here in) Indonesia, climate change sa (in) Africa…you’ve spent millions for that and I do not see any improvement…,” Duterte said, not elaborating if he was referring to a certain government official.
Duterte has repeatedly mentioned that he would not think twice to sack government officials involved in even a “whiff of corruption” and has even fired several officials already.
During the last 23 months of his administration, Duterte fired a handful of officials, most of them campaigned for him during the 2016 presidential race, which include his fraternal brothers, family friends and political supporters.
Last Tuesday, Duterte accepted the resignation of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo.
Teo resigned in the midst of a P60-million advertisement deal involving the government’s television network (PTV) and his brother’s media agency.-Editha Z. Caduaya/Newsline.ph
