Duterte to sack more officials linked to corruption

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he is set to remove more government officials linked to corruption from post.

Duterte gave the statement during a birthday dinner held for him in Pasay City, on the same day he announced he accepted the resignation of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

It was also announced on Thursday that National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Oscar Albayalde will replace Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

"I accepted the resignation of Aguirre today and we have a new PNP Chief, si Albayalde, which was endorsed by the military and the police. 'Yan na 'yang gusto nila. And marami pa, he said.

"I’ll be firing about one undersecretary, one after the other. Ubusin ko talaga ‘yan," he added.

The President has been bringing down the ax on high-ranking officials and heads of offices accused of corruption and abuse of powe.

"And to think, in fairness also to [former] President [Benigno] Aquino and to [former] President [Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo, so far, ang lahat nabigyan ko ‘yung tao. Even the Cabinet member, the first to go mga tao ko," he said.

Among the officials Duterte has sacked were Terry Ridon as chairman of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Peter Tiu Laviña as administrator of the National Irrigation Authority, Dionisio Santiago as chair of Dangerous Drugs Board, and Mike Sueno as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK/BAP, GMA News