President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a stop to the processing of applications for reclamation projects in the country due to reports of corruption. Speaking to top government officials from Central Visayas on Thursday night, he said he had fired several members of his Cabinet who were linked to corruption. Duterte did not mention their names or say whether any of them had been dismissed due to controversies over reclamation projects. “All applications for reclamation, all—and it could include Cebu and Mindanao—I told the acting secretary to stop all of it,” he said, referring to Acting Secretary Jim Sampulna who replaced Roy Cimatu last month as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). “I’m not fond of announcing to the media [but] I’ve fired five or six Cabinet members because of corruption,” the President said.

Mayol, A. V., Semilla, N., & Reyes, D. (2022, April 2). Du30 puts reclamation application on hold. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A2.