Senator Richard Gordon said Tuesday an emissary of the so-called “Rodriguez group,” tagged in an alleged multi-billion money-laundering case, offered him as much as P20 million so the latter would not be required to face the Senate inquiry into the millions of dollars suspiciously entering the Philippines.
“Do you know that even bribe offers have been sent to me? Some say P5 million. Some also say P20 million so that I would not ask them to appear,” Gordon said.
He says the alleged emissary of the group offered to donate P5 million to the Philippine Red Cross, which he heads, and then the bribe offer went up to P20 million.
“I am chagrined, they really have some nerve, they think they can buy everything. I said I am not into those kinds of things,” Gordon said.
Gordon’s committee, which is conducting an investigation into the suspected money-laundering scheme in which millions of dollars are being brought into the country by Chinese citizens and Filipinos, have subpoenaed seven people who are said to be part of the Rodriguez group.
The group is one of two suspected syndicates that allegedly brought into the Philippines about P18.7 billion in alleged laundered cash.
Sought for his comment on the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte absolving Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in money laundering, Gordon replied, “Oh well that’s his… He can always say anything that he wants but we can disagree.”
Gordon lamented Duterte does not believe there is any money laundering.
“Mr. President, you are being misled by your people. You better check. You are a lawyer as well, most respectfully. And definitely, if you are To look at it, there were hundreds of millions,” Gordon said.
He warns the entry of millions into the country is dangerous, and he vowed to continue with the Senate probe into the money laundering scheme, stressing “this is a democracy.”
“We don’t stop our investigation just because somebody is saying no…. that’s not true. What then would happen to our investigations here?”
Gordon says when the Bureau of Customs does its job, it should be commended.
When AMLC does not do its job and insists there is no money laundering, “we are really are in trouble.”
He says the sentinels of the country are not doing their job. The sentinels of are the AMLC and the central bank.
Gordon says when his committee resumes its hearing on POGO operations today, (Tuesday), he will prove the big amount. He says there are enough statements made, enough documentation made, to say money laundering must be addressed.
He says $500,000 in suspected laundered money entered the Philippines Tuesday morning, and that it arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.
“There’s another 500,000 dollars, this time from Singapore. There are only two places where these come from: Singapore and Hong Kong.”
According to Gordon, the amount of money that was brought into the country has reached $633 million, or more than P32 billion, from September 2019 to March 2020.
He says the AMLC’s officials should shape up or ship out. He says the AMLC could have seized the money, froze it, filed charges and waited for the court to decide if it was indeed laundered money.
“The AMLC did not act. They should have seized the money, and if they [the owners] failed to get it, that’s a clear income for the government. In Russia, the euro generals were found carrying millions of dollars, the money was confiscated. The same happened in the United States,” he said.