Incumbent Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Monday, April 25, warned Pasig City Hall employees still involved in corruption and under-the-table transactions to refrain from performing such acts as they are "playing with fire" and he is ready to put them all to jail.

During the local government's weekly morning assembly, Sotto revealed that he is still receiving complaints and reports of corruption and unjust practices involving city government employees belonging to the City Assessor's Office and the Office of the Building Official.

"Ang dalawang opisina po ninyo noong nakaraang anim na buwan, dumadami na naman ang mga reklamo patungkol sa korupsyon at katiwalian. Dumadami na naman ang mga report na mayroon mga humihingi, mga tumatanggap, mga naninigil (Your two offices are being involved in the increasing number of complaints regarding corruption and illegal practices. There is an increase in reports of some of you asking, receiving, and charging money illegally)," Sotto said.

"Doon sa mga kasama natin na gumagawa pa rin ng mga bagay na ito, kailan ba tayo titigil? Noong nakaraang linggo lamang, Mayroon na naman report. Kawawa yung senior citizen, pabalik-balik sa assessor's office. Pinapahirapan siya. Hindi ko na muna babanggitin yung detalye pero sa dulo hinihingan siya ng ochenta mil ata 'yon (To those involved in these practices, when are you going to quit? Last week, another report has been filed involving a senior citizen who is being asked to provide P80,000 in exchange for service from the assessor's office)," he added.

The mayor said that everyone working in the city government knows what is right and wrong and that his administration is doing everything it can in order to give city government employees dignity and just benefits.

"Tayo po ni-minsan, kahit sa gitna ng pandemya, hindi tayo nangamba na mawawalan tayo ng trabaho. Tayo po may seguridad tayo sa ating mga trabaho. Panahon na kapag may negosyo ka, kinakabahan ka noong ECQ, baka 'di na kumita, baka magsara na. Kung nagtatrabaho ka sa call center, anytime baka magretrenchment. Nagtatrabaho ka sa construction, ilang buwan bawal ang construction. Ni hindi tayo kinabahan na mawawalan tayo ng trabaho. Alam natin tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho natin, iyon man lang tanawin nating utang na loob sa taong-bayan dahil meron tayo (We government workers, even amid the pandemic, did not become afraid that we may lose our jobs because we all have security of tenure. During the time when for example you're a businessman, you are afraid of ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) because you will definitely lose profit and even close down your business; you're a construction worker who lost your job because construction works and projects were prohibited for months; or even as a call center agent wherein anytime you may lose your job due to retrenchment. We government workers did not worry that we may lose our jobs because we know that our services will still be needed despite the pandemic. So let us all take that into consideration and consider it a debt to our citizens)," Sotto said.

"Di naman siguro ako nagkulang sa pagbibigay ng warning, sa pagpapaalala sa atin na magtrabaho tayo ng tapat. Kung dati pwede iyong ganon, ngayon hindi na. Kung dati okay lang iyon, hinahayaan, ngayon hindi na. Magtrabaho tayo ng tapat. Gawin natin ang trabaho ng maayos. Makuntento tayo sa sahod natin. Kung ano mang bonus ang meron tayo...kung ano ang kayang ibigay, ano ang legal, anong pwede, gawin natin. Kaya nakakadismaya pag may naririnig tayo ng ganitong bagay (I believe I have properly reminded everyone to work and serve the people with honesty and integrity. If before this was allowed, now it isn't. If before that was okay and just turn a blind eye to it, now you can't do that. Let's all work truthfully and perform our jobs right. Let's all be contended with our salaries and whatever bonuses that we receive as long as these are legal. That's the reason why it's so frustrating to learn that these incidents are still happening)," he added.

The mayor even recounted that luckily, the senior citizen did not file any legal complaint against the assessor's office employee who is asking for money and instead just informed them about the corruption happening .

He reminded everyone involved in corruption in the city government that he will not hesitate in filing legal complaints against them and putting them to jail.

"Noong 2019, warning. 2020 Mayroon na tayong mga inentrap, may mga pending na na kaso (In 2019 I issued a warning. In 2020 we already made an entrapment operation against a corrupt employee who is now facing charges)," Sotto said.

"Kung mayroon man akong maipagmamalaki bilang mayor ng isang taon, iyon po ay ang pinakamalaking korupsyon sa city hall noon, wala na ngayon. Pag may nakita tayo, hindi tayo magbubulag-bulagan. Kahit mahirap, hindi tayo magpapatinag. Pumasok ako sa gobyerno para maging instrumento ng pagbabago. Ang tanong, nakikita ba natin kung bakit kailangan natin ang pagbabago na ito, bakit tayo naglilinis ng pamahalaan kung patuloy tayo nagbubulag-bulagan, nagbibingi-bingihan? (If I may be proud about one thing being a mayor for a year, it's that the biggest problem in the city which was corruption is now gone. If we see corruption, we will not just turn a blind eye to it. Even if it's difficult, we will never back down. I entered the government to become an instrument of change. The question is, can we see the reason why we need to do this change and why we need to cleanse the government if we will just continue being blind and deaf?)," he added.

On December 15 last year, Sotto was recognized by United States (US) Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for his contributions towards transparency and anti-corruption.

Blinken mentioned Sotto and his leadership of Pasig City in his speech about US relations with the Indo-pacific region and developing transparency and anti-corruption policies in the Indo-pacific.

He mentioned Pasig City’s transparency and public communication hotline, also known as Ugnayan sa Pasig (UsaP), which he recognizes as a way for community-based organizations to participate in city-spending and resource allocation.

Blinken said Sotto was named an “anti-corruption champion” by the US State Department in February 2021 for toppling a political family and for his achievements towards freedom of information and participatory governance.