ZAMBOANGA CITY--President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Tuesday stressed that local government officials should do their share in the administration's anti-criminality drive.
President Duterte issued the challenge after he administered the oath of office to about 1,904 newly-elected barangay chairpersons here in Region 9 at the municipal gymnasium of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur.
Duterte said that as chief executive, he implements all laws and legal orders, and that local officials must do the same in their respective localities.
“What (laws) I have to impose, you should also implement,” the President told the local government officials present during the activity.
“If you are the municipal mayor, you are like the President in the municipality,” he pointed out.
He said local officials should focus on the campaign against illegal drugs, illegal logging, as well as other forms of criminality.
Local government officials who do not fulfill their tasks should resign from their posts, Duterte said.
Duterte said he has ordered Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to conduct an audit of the performance of all local government units (LGUs), as well as to determine the areas that have high crime rates and with persisting drug problem.
"I will file charges against you if you are incompetent," he said.
Duterte also told the local government officials not be be cowed by communist rebels. (With reports from Dennis C. Baguio/PNA)
