Duterte fires his long-time employee, 91 others over gov't corruption

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday revealed that he has just fired 92 government employees from various agencies this month as part of his bid to end corruption in government.

"I have fired 92. I have fired so many customs official, BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), the revenue people and the regulatory boards of LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board), the one giving the franchises for public utilities. 92 all of them this month alone, March. I said go," Duterte said during the groundbreaking ceremony of a drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation center in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

"I said better... do not f*ck the government with its money, 'cause if you do, we cannot understand each other," he added.

Duterte said he even fired one of his employees who had been part of his team since 1988.

"The guy who was with me since 1988, he was part of my team but when we were already in the government, and I heard that he was suggesting this and that, and I said you have to go," Duterte said.

"The first whiff of corruption, it's finished," he added.

Earlier this month, Duterte said he had fired "a close associate" over allegations of corruption.

Duterte, however, did not name the said government official but his announcement came a day after National Irrigation Administration chief Peter Laviña had quit his post in order to spare the administration from embarrassing corruption allegations.

Malacañang, meanwhile, stressed that government workers should be corruption-free. — Marlly Rome Bondoc/MDM, GMA News