"The anti-corruption drive holds accountable officials on all levels of government."
"The anti-corruption drive holds accountable officials on all levels of government."Not one among those he succeeded in Malacanang has done as much as President Duterte has to combat rampant graft and corruption in the government.
The anemic number of convictions may be blamed on the deficient and corrupt justice system itself, including the graft court Sandiganbayan.
It is now the job of the Anti-Corruption Mega Task Force to build strong cases and press charges against those who otherwise would get away with their loot or wrongdoing.
The President said he expects the Mega Task Force to work through the holidays and cause many to lose their jobs and even go to jail by the year’s end.
Designated by Manong Digong as task force head, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, said the super body targets “mega transactions” that raise red flags, starting with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
With a year and a half left of his term, Manong Digong is apparently resolved to leave a legacy of “clean government” in the wake of the mess at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
After the full-blown inquiries conducted separately by the Senate and the House, as well as the DOJ-led inter-agency Task Force, there should be no reason why a good number of crooks in PhilHealth will not lose their posts and won’t end up behind bars.
It’s about time to unmask and penalize those culprits who comprise the so-called Mafia, fleecing PhilHealth of billions of pesos in workers’ contributions.
The Office of the Ombudsman last week ordered the preventive suspension of eight ranking officials of PhilHealth in addition to 13 others sacked in August, involving anomalous transactions with a number of medical entities.
Manong Digong could not have picked a more credible leader than Secretary Guevarra who vowed not to turn a blind eye on anyone, including those in agencies attached to the DOJ.
At least 44 personnel of the Bureau of Immigration, an attached agency of the DOJ, face multiple criminal and administrative charges in connection with the “pastillas” bribery scandal.
A recent Senate probe exposed that some corrupt Immigration officials and airport personnel have been raking in tens of billions of pesos in bribes paid by foreigners, mostly Chinese nationals, who were granted tourist visas on arrival.
Tens of thousands of Chinese have remained to work at casinos and online-gambling joints run by Chinese mafia in the country.
Manong Digong recently expressed disgust that the Philippine National Police has been a perennial source of problem and embarrassment.
PNP Chief General Pancratius Cascolan said the PNP is seriously purging its ranks of unfit and undesirables, causing the dismissal last year of 4,591 policemen from the service for involvement in various serious offenses including illegal drugs trade.
Some 15,768 errant cops have been penalized for various offenses since 2016 as part of PNP’s internal cleansing.
Recall that the Senate probe of the massive irregularities in the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) led to the expose of the “ninja cops” that implicated former PNP Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde.
Most of the narco-generals, narco-politicians, narco-judges, as well as narco-celebrities and narco-terrorists remain on the loose.
But as I’ve said, not one of the previous administrations in recent memory, has done as much as the Duterte leadership in going after the crooks in the government and inculcating accountability in public service.
Manong Digong’s tireless effort to deliver on this campaign promise has empowered the people against the impunity of corrupt and abusive officials on all levels of the government.
