PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, May 28, fired the head of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.
In a speech delivered at Palace's Rizal Hall, the President called out Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado and announced his decision to axe the latter.
Duterte lamented that corruption in government continues to be unabated.
"Corruption is still there. In spite of that warning, there seems to be an inadequate or a haphazard implementation of those suggested procedures," he said during the ceremonial enactment of two proposed measures.
"Me, I have fired several and I will fire [another one]. May I call the government corporate counsel now. Are you in this [event]? Are you here? Because if you are here, show your face. S** of a b****, you are fired. I do not need you and maybe, you do not need me," he added.
In April last year, Duterte tapped Jurado as the head of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).
The OGCC is the principal and statutory law office of government-owned and -controlled corporations, their subsidiaries, government financial institutions, government corporate offspring, government instrumentalities with corporate powers and government acquired asset corporations.
Jurado's dismissal came amid corruption allegations hurled against him.
Jurado, in an unsigned letter that purportedly came from OGCC lawyers, was earlier accused of favoring businesses, particularly gambling and gaming firms.
Duterte, who learned about Jurado's supposed bias in granting franchises to gambling companies, threatened to "kill" the government corporate counsel.
"I've been trying to be patient with everybody, but there's always an opportunity to interpret a law or insist [on] your stupid proposition until the problem gets out of hand. I have already fired many officials. Everyday, I've been firing an undersecretary, a Secretary. Now, i'm firing the government corporate counsel," he said.
"Why is it happening in the government? It seemed to be at a loss on how I would... Would I kill you, let DDS (Davao Death Squad) kill you, just run over you? Frankly, there are thousands of lawyers there, waiting for an appropriate opportunity to work in government," the President added. (SunStar Philippines)