On Thursday the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte told Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas officials to resign, saying they are hampering the government’s efforts in fighting corruption.
If they don't resign immediately, they will be treated as a "drug addict," Duterte warned.
“I’m warning again central bank for the second time…I’m going to charge all of you there, criminally. I’ll count 1 to 3 and if you don’t resign, I will treat you as a drug addict,” Duterte said in his speech after signing the 2017 national budget.
Duterte lamented anew Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) seeming non-cooperation in his government’s fight against money laundering. The central bank governor, Amando Tetangco Jr., sits as the chairman of the AMLC.
President Duterte and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II earlier accused the AMLC of sitting on the government’s requests for bank records of Senator Leila de Lima and other personalities implicated in the drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
Aguirre, in a separate interview, however clarified that Duterte's warning was only addressed to the AMLC secretariat.
But the president lamented that AMLC was engaging in politics when it released his bank records amid allegations he was keeping over P200 million in a secret bank account.
“You are contributing to the corruption of this country,” Duterte told BSP officials.
“You have reported to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and submitted it very late yet you don’t have the assessment report. Kaya kayo nilagay dyan kasi may trabaho kayo. If you cannot do your job, get out from that office.”
President Duterte also warned BSP officials to wait for the departure of Tetangco.
