MANILA, Philippines - Presidential frontrunner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday admitted having two bank accounts, but said these only contain several thousand pesos and not P211 million as claimed by vice presidential candidate Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Duterte said his accounts at a Bank of the Philippine Islands branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Ortigas have balances of only P17,000 and P50,000.
He said both accounts are under his name and one of these had a huge amount before, but he had spent it and only P17,000 is left.
Asked if he had declared the bank accounts in his statement of assets liabilities and net worth (SALN), Duterte answered: “Ewan ko, basta mayroon akong (I don’t know, I just have) bank (accounts).”
“Hindi aabot ng (it won’t reach) million, I will assure you, kailan ko pa kayo binola (when did I fool you)?” Duterte said when asked if the money would reach millions.
He said Trillanes, whom he had rejected as runningmate, was fabricating statements.
He also took a swipe at Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas for daring him to open his bank accounts.
Trillanes previously said Duterte did not declare P211 million in his SALN in 2014, which is a ground for an employee’s dismissal from government service.
He challenged Duterte to waive secrecy of his bank accounts to know who between the two of them is telling the truth.
At a press conference held at the Magdalo headquarters in Quezon City yesterday, Trillanes said that he would resign as a senator and withdraw from the vice presidential race if his allegations are proven false.
But Duterte, who wooed voters in Balanga, Bataan, challenged Trillanes to execute “a statement under oath” or an affidavit that would declare when, where and how he got information on his bank accounts.
He said would not accommodate Trillanes’ challenge unless he files the affidavit, despite having previously signed a manifesto along with his runningmate Sen. Alan Cayetano for full disclosure of their bank accounts.
Economic roadmap
Meanwhile, Duterte might have failed to articulate it before the Makati Business Club (MBC) on Wednesday, but he has an economic roadmap, his spokesman said yesterday.
“We have a written economic program,” Peter Laviña told ABS-CBN News Channel.
Laviña said part of the program is the adoption of the policies of the Arroyo and Aquino administrations “that are working.”
He did not, however, say which policies of President Aquino and his predecessor, former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, are working and how he intends to modernize agriculture.
Laviña said Duterte as president would discontinue the four-decade-old land reform program, started during the Marcos era and which calls for the distribution of lands to landless tillers and farmers.
He said the mayor does not believe that giving farmers small lots would improve their lives.
Asked who are Duterte’s economic advisers, Laviña said former agriculture secretary Carlos Dominguez and his brother Paul, who are Davao businessmen.
MBC disappointed
Members of the MBC said they were disappointed that the mayor did not unveil his economic program and his economic team.
Duterte’s speech was punctuated by expletives and foul language.
The camp of Roxas said Duterte is not interested in the economy.
“Empty cans make a lot of noise. Mayor Duterte proved this in his appearance before the Makati Business Club. This is the latest in a number of incidents where his lack of knowledge and interest in the economy was put on display for all to see,” Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez, speaking for Roxas, said.
He said the Makati businessmen needed to hear Duterte’s economic plans to help them decide whether they would continue investing here or pack up.
Instead, they heard profanity, sexist remarks and tall tales, he added.
Laviña recalled that Duterte told his campaign team that “he would rather lose the elections than his identity” when they suggested that he should undergo a personality makeover.
He said the mayor has been using the private jet and helicopter of Davao City-based religious sect leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in his campaign.
Duterte has refused to name his campaign contributors.
Meanwhile, the mayor vowed to “tone down” the Constitution for foreign investors if he gets elected on May 9.
He told businessmen in Makati that he would open the country’s economy to foreign businessmen, but would let Congress decide on that matter. – With Jess Diaz, Marvin Sy