President Rodrigo Duterte went on a harsh tirade against a former official of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero during his taped speech.
Duterte called Guerrero’s Chief of Staff Teodoro Jumamil as “balasubas” or a swindler and accused them of abusing their ties with him so they can get away from their corrupt practices.
The president added the official held two government posts at the same time: A position at Customs and a member of the Board of Directors at the Development Bank of the Philippines.
“Itong si Jumamil matagal na iyan sa airport. Napaka-corrupt iyang p*****i** na ‘yan,” he said. “Ang mahirap sa iyo, sa panahon ko, you took advantage because you helped me. [You want me] to repay by just closing my eyes. I cannot understand why you are holding DBP at the same time he was an employee of the Customs.”
[Jumamil has long been assigned at the airport, he is extremely corrupt. The problem with you, you took advantage of my term because you helped me.]
He said he has long told Guerrero to sack Jumamil, but said it “took him seasons to do it.”
Despite his corruption claims against Jumamil, he vouched for the Custom Chief’s honesty.
“I can vouch na malinis ka [I can vouch that you are not corrupt]. Problem is, do not entertain loyalties especially in government,” he added.
Last year, Guerrero faced complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman for what was said to be the illegal appointments of Jumamil and three others at the Bureau of Customs. The complainant claimed the appointees were not qualified for their posts and that they began working in November 2018, when their appointment papers only came out only in May 2019.
