PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has dismissed two unnamed government officials for allegedly sitting on the documents needed for the construction of infrastructure project in Metro Manila meant to ease traffic condition.
In an interview aired on state-run PTV4 on Friday night, the President revealed that he castigated two officials of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) over supposed one-year delay on the proposal to build a bridge in San Juan City, Manila.
“I did not like it because Cabinet members are only allowed one month to act on the papers. The directors, I repeat, only have 15 days. What are you doing? There were two who have been sitting on the paper. And the document was for the construction firm’s project to build a bridge across San Juan,” Duterte said.
“I told them to hasten it. [The sacked officials] took almost one day – one year rather. They did not do anything but sit on the papers. I asked, why did it have to end this way? The two, they were from the Pasig River [Rehabilitation] Commission,” he added.
The Chief Executive said the two officials gave him an explanation over the delayed project but deemed it as “unacceptable.”
He said the two also apologized but such “undue delay” was a violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits government officials' negligence to act on relevant matters within a reasonable time without sufficient justification.
“The two, after the meeting, sent a letter to me, apologizing about what happened… What they did was unaccaptable. It delayed the project. So, for almost so many months, we’re expediting everything so that we can have the mobility of the people of Metro Manila moving faster. But these two sat on it for almost one year,” Duterte said.
“So I said, while they sent me a letter apologizing for the delay, I’m telling them now on a televised [speech], I have fired you actually,” he added.
It has been Duterte's habit to sack public officials because of corruption allegations or supposed incompetence. (SunStar Philippines)