MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte said in his sixth and final state of the nation address (SONA) on Monday that the only way to eradicate corruption is to fully overturn the government.
Duterte labeled government-wide corruption as “endemic,” admitting that he has yet to totally eradicate the government of dishonest officials and employees.
“Corruption, it’s endemic in government. You cannot stop corruption. Nobody can stop corruption unless you overturn the government completely,” he said.
He claimed that his successor could only change the system if he or she declared martial law and fired “everybody” in government.
“If I were the next president if you think there’s really a need for you to change everybody in the system, then you declare martial law and fire everybody and allow the new generation to come in to work for the government,” he said.
Duterte claims his administration has made tremendous progress in improving government transparency and accountability despite shortcomings in the fight against corruption.
“We also issued the order on Freedom of Information [that] opens up the records, transactions, decisions and issuances of all government agencies. In relation to this, we also have the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission that is tasked to run after corrupt and erring government officials and bring them to justice,” he said.
Duterte acknowledged in several remarks that eradicating corruption will take time.
He did, however, praise the government’s progress in firing and dismissing corrupt officials and employees.
He established a mega task force in 2020 to investigate government-wide corruption, focusing on the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Bureau of Customs.
In 2016, the Duterte administration also established a 24-hour national public service hotline for citizens to report poor service delivery and unethical conduct in government agencies.
The hotline also gives access to national and local emergency service providers.
