IT is certainly disgusting, saddening and distressing to know that corruption continues to make “irritating sounds” in national and local government offices not only in the metropolis but elsewhere.
This despite the fact that President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration have only 19 months left to rid the government of thieves in state uniform and their equally “greedy cohorts” in the private sector.
Enraged, the tough-talking Chief Executive ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to lead a “mega task force” to conduct an investigation into graft and corruption across all government agencies.
The DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra-headed task force’s authority to investigate erring government officials and employees will be in effect until the end of President Duterte’s administration.
Thus, in support of the Duterte administration’s multi-pronged anti-corruption crusade, we urge agency heads to now hit hard at their personnel who take advantage of their positions for private gain.
And this is what Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is doing. Records show that since 2016, Tugade has been implementing strict anti-corruption policies and measures.
In fact, a total of 133 DOTr personnel have been dismissed from the service for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best of the service. Of the number, five were dismissed this year.
Those sacked included not only rank-and-file employees but even middle managers and top brass in the central office and agencies, with cases ranging from fixing activities to receiving fees or gifts.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the six-year presidency of Duterte, a long-time mayor of Davao City and the first Mindanaoan to occupy the top political post of the land, ends at 12 noon on June 30, 2022.
Certainly, Tugade deserves the support of the Filipino people, including the ordinary citizens, as he pursues the Duterte government’s drive to stamp out world-class larceny in the bureaucracy.
