PDuterte to fellow Filipinos, “If you encounter corrupt officials, make a scene, sampalin nyo, I will defend you!”

President Rodrigo Duterte photo by abs-cbn (ctto)

Manila, Philippines - President Rodrigo Duterte urged his fellow Filipinos during his 4th State of the Nation Address Monday, “If you encounter corrupt officials, make a scene”, “be assertive”.

"Kayo rin kasi sinasabi ko na sa'yo, be assertive. At 'pag kayo hiningan more than the required payment by government, again I'm telling you mag-iskandalo kayo sa opisina," Duterte said. 

"Make a scene. Sampalin mo 'yang mga y**a na 'yan kasi aabot rin sa akin 'yan," he added 

President Duterte is getting frustrated as he made this statement due to prevalent corruption in government three years despite his campaign against abusive and corrupt civil servants. 

The President even created the public hotline 8888, so they could call when they encounter a corrupt public servant, "...[S]abi ni Duterte that if you extort money from me, I will slap you. At sampalin talaga ninyo. Di na bale magkaaway, I will defend you." 

"And I have done that. Ako magprangka sa inyo. Ako lang presidente na hanggang ngayon nambubugbog ng mga tao. Pinapakain ko ng pera mga y**a na 'yan." 

"Be sure that it is true, though you are not liable for libel, pero 'wag naman 'yang makasakit ka ng tao na wala namang kasalanan (but don't file a report that would hurt someone who is not guilty)." He added.


Duterte said he would be "unyielding in our reforms to weed them out," mentioning some examples on how he has "fired and caused the resignation" of more than 100 officials and government appointees without regard to alliances or relationships. 

Just recently he fired more than 60 officials from the Bureau of Customs over the alleged corruption. "There is no sacred cow, as the saying goes, in my administration." He added.

"If I cannot dismiss them for reason of security of tenure, I will allow plantilla positions but report to Congress every day to help me with huge paperwork every day. All of them will go out of the premises of Customs," the Chief Executive said. 

"Let me ask you. When will corruption end? I don't know. I've been in government for almost 35 years now, I'm not singling out myself. It's the entire gamut of our system," the President said. 

Source: abs-cbn