PRESIDENTIAL frontrunner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte admitted on Monday that he received expensive gifts from long-time friend, religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, even as he dismissed his accuser Senator Antonio Trillanes IV as a “paid mongrel.”
But his rival, administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, said the mayor is bending the law at his own convenience although the mayor had been a city prosecutor who cannot claim ignorance of the law.
Duterte said Quiboloy gave him two real properties and two cars, but he did not specify who is the registered owner of the properties.
“When I was mayor, Pastor [Quiboloy] bought three properties. I’ll buy for your children in case you die from doing your job. He gave me a house in Woodridge. I didn’t accept it but it’s there. Go to Woodridge, who bought it? It’s Pastor who paid,” Duterte said.
The mayor revealed that Quiboloy gave him another lot at the Royal Pines subdivision in Matina, Davao City.
Duterte also revealed that Quibolloy also gave him two luxury vehicles— a Nissan Safari and a Ford Expedition—which he both rejected but his daughter, former Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, wanted to keep it.
“I returned it. But Inday [Sara] went crazy because she wanted it. Where will you get money for gas? You’re foolish,” the mayor said.
Duterte also described Quiboloy to be so generous “that every time he would buy something, he would buy two” so he could give him one.
In the same interview, Duterte said that he will continue accepting favors from Quiboloy, who he said even offered to lend Duterte his private jet for the mayor’s personal use.
“I said, I’ll use it if I win. I’ll sleep in Davao every day. That’s a service and a contribution of Pastor to the government,” he added.
But Roxas, in an interview at Iloilo City, scored the mayor for breaking the law.
“The law is very clear,” Roxas said. “First of all, it’s not right to accept gifts especially if you’re a public servant. Second, these are not declared in your [statement of assets and liabilities and net worth], if you have nothing to hide, right?”
“It’s very simple. It’s in the rules. All property, gifts, inheritance or debts must be included in your SALN,” Roxas said.
“The problem with you Mayor Duterte, even if you’re a lawyer, you make the laws convenient for you. If it’s not convenient, you will evade the law. You will scorn the law. You will kill people. Hide your wealth and lie about it. That’s your character and you’re showing it to the people,” Roxas said.
Philippine laws, such as the R.A. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, prohibits people in government “from soliciting or accepting “directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”
This is not the first time Duterte admitted receiving large sums as “gifts,” the first one being his admission that a “little less than P211 million” was deposited in his bank account by his wealthy friends as a birthday gift.
The matter became controversial after Trillanes revealed that the bank Duterte was alluding to a Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Pasig City.
But Duterte also said Monday he would no longer reply to questions about the claims of Trillanes.
“He (Trillanes) is a plain askal [mongrel]. I will not, from now on, answer. He is nothing but a street dog,” Duterte said.
He said Trillanes is an ingrate who staged a rebellion against the government even after his education at the Philippine Military Academy was paid for by the Filipino people.
Meanwhile, Duterte’s lawyer Salvador Panelo insisted on Tuesday that the special power of attorney that Duterte issued to him in relation to a controversial Bank of the Philippine Islands account in Pasig City also equates to a “waiver.”
During their meeting on Monday, Trillanes said he was informed by Panelo that they can ask the bank to produce only the balances of the accounts under the mayor’s name, but without a transaction history to show prior withdrawals.