President Rodrigo Duterte has warned anew he would dismiss mayors who would fail to curb illegal drug problem in their places.

In a speech in Bohol on Thursday, Duterte reiterated his order to Department of Interior and Local Government Officer-in-charge Eduardo Ano to audit all local chief executives.

"If you are not doing anything, I will file charges against you and I will tell Ano, 'dismiss him. You recommend for the dismissal and I will sign it'," he said.

Duterte said erring mayors would also face charges.

"Serious neglect of duty or simple neglect, or gross ignorance of the law or oppression, or simply doing nothing," he said of the possible grounds for dismissing and filing of complaints against the local chief executives.

"Well actually, what I want you to do, just enforce the law. You are there to enforce the law...you read your oath of office...the long and short of that, you can reduce it in two sentences or two, not in so many words. It simply says, 'protect the people and preserve the Republic of the Philippines as a nation.' That's it," Duterte stressed. Celerina Monte/DMS