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Philippine incoming president urges cabinet to embrace austerity measures

Xinhua, June 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Incoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has urged his cabinet members to tighten belt, embrace austerity measures and live simply like ordinary Filipinos, his aides said Thursday.

Judy Taguiwalo, Duterte's chosen social welfare secretary, told reporters in Davao City that Duterte made it clear to his Cabinet members to live a frugal lifestyle and not to waste public funds.

"(He said) no luxury vehicles, take economy class (flights), and don't use government funds for junkets," she said.

Incoming Press Secretary Salvador Panelo said that Duterte deemed it "very important" to pursue austerity measures during his six-year administration.

Panelo said the cabinet members "are all 100 percent agreeable" with Duterte's policy.

Incoming Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Duterte also against the so-called pork barrel, a perk that members of Philippine Congress enjoyed in the past administrations.

Briones said Duterte does not want pork barrel. "He said that he would abolish Congress (if it persisted)," Briones said.

Duterte has marked government bureaus that he tagged as "most corrupt," including customs, internal revenue, immigration and land transportation office.

He has also ordered his economic advisers to make sure that economic progress will trickle down to the poor.

Ernesto Pernia, incoming chief of the National Economic and Development Authority, told reporters that Duterte's administration will make sure that the high economic growth will be maintained.

Gross domestic product of the Philippines grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016, while the poverty rate in the country with a population of more than 100 million remains at more than 20 percent.

"So our policy would be to make sure that economic growth is more pro-poor, more biased toward the lower-income groups," Pernia said.

Duterte has repeatedly stressed that he will be harsh when it comes to corruption and even make sure that all the people to be working for him will also practice austerity.

Duterte has told reporters that only finger foods will be served during his oath-taking ceremony at the Malacanang presidential palace on June 30. Endit