PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, June 20, vehemently warned that erring personnel of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) might either get “killed” or reassigned to Jolo, Sulu.
Duterte vented frustrations that despite his intensified crackdown on corruption in government, a “lot of stupid things” were still happening within the bureau.
“There’s a lot of stupid things going on [within the BI]. Do not do that because isang mali lang, hihiritan kita. Either patayin kita or sampulan kita or itapon kita sa Jolo,” he said in a speech in Iloilo.
(There’s a lot of stupid things going on [within the BI]. Do not do that because if you commit even just a single mistake, I will go after you. Either I will kill you or I will send you to Jolo.)
The President was also dismayed that Immigration personnel seemed to have ignored his anti-corruption drive, as some of them continue to accept bribes from Chinese and South Korean tourists, in exchange for processing their travel documents.
He then sternly reminded the BI employees that they should keep their distance from any foreign tourists who would attempt to bribe them to speed up the process.
“Ito namang mga turista na Intsik pati mga Koreano, eh palibhasa, hindi kanilang bayan, mag-bibigay,” Duterte said.
(“The Chinese and Korean tourists, just because this is not their country, are bribing [the Immigration personnel].”)
“Itong Immigration, ‘pag ang turista nakalabas na ng airport, nakatatak na, and he’s given so many days, huwag na huwag ninyong lapitan, lalo na ang mga Koreano pati Intsik,” he added.
(“To the Immigration [employees], if the tourist already goes out of the airport, and his passport is already stamped, and he’s given so many days, do not ever dare approach him, especially those Korean and Chinese nationals.”)
Duterte has persistently said that the firing of corrupt public officials would not stop, in a bid to fulfill his promise to have a “clean” government under his watch. (SunStar Philippines)