Philippine President Duterte accuses laundering watchdog of corruption
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sparked fresh controversy by threatening to take legal action against members of a money laundering watchdog, whom he accuses of corruption.
Duterte on Thursday threatened to “whack” members of the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council after the body failed to provide him with an “assessment report.”
“I'll count one to three and if you don't resign, I will treat you as a drug addict,” said Duterte, making a reference to his large-scale crackdown in the Philippines, which has seen thousands killed by police and vigilante forces since he took office in July.
The 71-year-old, who was speaking after a ceremony in the capital, Manila, to sign into law the national budget for 2017, seemed to be irked by the laundering watchdog’s delay in compilation of the report.
He warned he would have the justice department file charges against the four-member council as the officials failed to do their job.
“I am going to charge all of you there, criminally ... Better prepare there because I'll give you a whack. But you are all, you are all corrupt,” said Duterte.
In another speech to a women's group north of Manila, which was aired on television Thursday, Duterte warned that he would even personally go after the members of the laundering watchdog and arrest them, a method he admitted recently he had used to nab drug dealers when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao.
Duterte has faced increasing criticism in the West over his crackdown on drug offenses. He said last week that when he was mayor of Davao between 1988 and 2016, he personally killed those active in the drug market to set an example for police.
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