Palace to announce sacking of high-ranking official Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines — The list of officials dismissed over alleged irregularities is about to grow as President Rodrigo Duterte is set to fire another official this week, Malacañang said Monday.

 

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte informed him about his plan to fire the official last Sunday.

 

He said Duterte had asked him to announce the dismissal but he urged the president to defer it until Wednesday.  

 

"Actually, I was supposed to announce the firing of someone. I decided to move it to January. He wanted me to announce the firing. I told him: 'Let's not do it Mr. President. Let's allow the official to have a happy new year'," Roque told radio station dzBB in Filipino. 

 

"Let's just dismiss the official when January 3 comes," he added. 

 

Roque did not identify the official and the reason why the official would be axed. He is expected to provide details in a press conference on Wednesday.

 

Roque declined to give a hint but replied on the affirmative when asked whether the person to be axed is a high-level official. 

 

"The fight of the president is not just against drugs but also against the corrupt in government," the presidential spokesman said. 

 

"He wants big fishes to serve as an example" he added.  

 

READ: Palace: New appointment a chance for Faeldon to 'prove critics wrong'

 

Duterte has vowed not to tolerate even a whiff of corruption in his government and has promised to fire officials tagged in wrongdoings. 

 

Among the officials he has dismissed were former Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, who was tagged in an allegedly anomalous truck deal with an Austrian firm and former National Irrigation Administration chief Peter Laviña, who was accused of asking money from contractors. 

  

Last month, Duterte sacked Presidential Commission on Urban Poor Terry Ridon and his four commissioners over alleged junkets.

 

He has also asked Development Academy of the Philippines president Elba Cruz to leave her post after she was accused of traveling frequently, threatening to terminate anyone who questions her policies and appointing non-plantilla officers to official posts.

 

Also last December, a group of seafarers urged Duterte to act on the alleged unnecessary foreign trips of Maritime Industry Authority administrator Marcial “Al” Amaro III.

 

Duterte told reporters last week that he has not seen the complaint. 

 

Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office are also mired in a controversy after they were accused of spending millions for a Christmas party. 

 

PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan has confirmed that P6 million was spent for the party. He insisted that the 1,580 PCSO employees deserved the party because they worked hard to increase the earnings of the agency.