New Philippines president cracks down on corrupt government departments
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/Courtesy of Twitter
By Lee Han-soo
Newly elected Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has a new item on his agenda --corrupt police.
During a speech at the 69th anniversary of the Philippines Air Force on Tuesday, Duterte named five present and former police heads allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
Criticizing them as “protectors of the drug cartels,” Duterte fired them and ordered the National Police Commission to investigate.
The allegation comes after newly appointed national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa ordered all police linked to narcotics trafficking to surrender by Sunday or be killed. But no police turned themselves in, triggering a massive drug testing of all 160,000 police officers. As of last week, 11 of 2,405 tested came up positive.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also said it will clean up corruption inside its agency.
BIR chief Caeser Dulay warned corrupt officials to quit before a formal investigation begins, after which they will face criminal charges.
“BIR employees have a civic duty to the people to provide a transparent service,” Dulay said.