(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Wednesday he had sacked the head of the Dangerous Drugs Board.
“You’re fired today. Get out of the service. You do not contradict your own government,” Duterte said he told Benjamin Reyes.
Duterte was speaking to reporters upon his arrival from Russia, where he was supposed to have a five-day official visit.
The visit was cut short after clashes between government troops and the Maute terrorist group in Marawi, which prompted President Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.
According to Duterte, Reyes said in a recent forum that there were 1.8 million drug addicts in the country.
The forum was attended by United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard, who has criticized Duterte’s drug war.
“And dala-dala ng babae was 1.8 [million] when I have been telling everybody, everything that there’s about four million drug addicts. And here comes a chairman…” Duterte said.