MANILA – Saying they were “fundamentally honest and industrious,” President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to appoint more military men as part of his administration.
In a speech during the Araw ng Kagitingan commemoration at Barangay Bus-Bus in Jolo, Sulu on Tuesday night, Duterte said he believes that former members of the military are not prone to corruption.
“I’m sure you’d be surprised that most of the Cabinet members now are military guys. It’s not because I am up to something,” Duterte said. “I have a special fondness for the military for being fundamentally honest at industrious.”
The President added: “Ano lang ako sa bureaucracy because I have met several failures pati hindi mo mautusan nang matino. Puro corruption. Kaya as you would see, ‘yung unang – the next few officials coming in would be military guys.”
More openings in Duterte’s Cabinet are expected as the President recently said he is set to fire a number of government officials due to corruption allegations.
Many of the President’s appointees are former military officials namely Interior secretary Eduardo Año, Social Welfare secretary Rolando Bautista, Environment secretary Roy Cimatu, Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, and Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
Duterte earlier ordered military intervention in the Customs bureau after multibillion-peso drug shipments slipped through the agency.
Expecting a similar outcome, the President threatened a military “takeover” in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport so it could improve its services./PN
