President Rodrigo Duterte issued a stern warning that he will fire Customs officials if the systemic corruption at the bureau continues.
Duterte made the strong warning during a taped public address Tuesday morning as he scored anew Teodoro Jumamil, chief of staff of Customs chief Rey Guerrero, for working at the BOC while serving as director at the Development Bank of the Philippines.
“I was considering… Jagger (Guerrero), I was considering replacing you. Not because of anything, I can vouch you are clean. The problem is you (should) not entertain loyalties, especially in government. If you think that that idiot is going to destroy you, you destroy him first,” the President said.
Duterte directed the Department of Justice to look into anomalies hounding the bureau, noting that it is one of the “most corrupt” government agencies historically.
“I have to name him (Jumamil) publicly, for being… what do you call it in Bisaya? Put…. Idiot? You took advantage maybe because you helped me… I cannot understand why he was holding DBP director at the same time he was an employee of the Customs,” he said.
Since being elected to the presidency in 2016, Duterte has already appointed three Customs commissioners—former Marine captain Nicanor Faeldon, former police general Isidro Lapeña and Guerrero, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.