Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday declared that every member of his administration, appointed by a previous president, will be laid off. The extreme decision is part of a highly-criticised “campaign against corruption”, reported Time.

“I still hear that corruption is being committed. My mouth is, as they say, lousy. If you are there because of a presidential appointment, I will declare all your positions, all throughout the country, vacant. It will number in the thousands,” Duterte said in a press conference on Sunday.

Duterte, who was sworn in as president less than two months ago, has also hinted at imposing “martial law” if the judiciary tries to obstruct his plan to eradicate drugs from the South East Asian nation. The United Nations has referred to the president’s campaign against drugs, which has led to the death of hundreds of suspected drug traffickers, a human rights violation. Last week two UN human rights experts called for an end to extra-judicial executions and killings that have been on the rise under Duterte's leadership.

Duterte responded to the UN's allegations by threatening to withdraw the country’s membership from the organization. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Duterte answered queries about the consequences of his statement by saying he did not "give a sh*t” about the repercussions of his remarks. He also hinted at inviting China and other countries to form a new international organisation.