MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Richard Gordon on Tuesday said the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars handcarried into the country by dozens of Filipino and foreign couriers over the past six months should not have been dismissed as just speculation by President Rodrigo Duterte who, the senator believed, had been misled by some officials regarding the matter.
The chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, who opened an investigation of the suspicious money flow of more than $633 million, or about P32 billion, also told reporters that one Filipino family, which brought in $283 million, offered to give him P20 million in exchange for not being summoned to the panel’s hearing but that he rejected the alleged payoff.
Duterte said the money being brought into the country was being used by Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) to pay their clients, and it was just the “speculation of senators” that the funds were being laundered in the country (See related story on page A7).
“I wish the President wouldn’t make remarks like that, especially since a coequal branch of government is investigating a very, very serious situation,” Gordon said in an interview.
“Mr. President, I think you are being misled by your people. You better check. You’re a lawyer as well, most respectfully,” he said.
Appointees defended
STILL COMING Sen. Richard Gordon holds up a note on Tuesday indicating that large amounts of US dollars are still coming in to be laundered in the country . He says President Duterte, who has dismissed his claimas mere speculation, is being misled by some officials. JOSEPH VIDAL/SENATE PRIB
The senator lamented how Duterte had defended several of his appointees who had been accused of wrongdoing in past Senate hearings.
“I am not trying to pick a fight with anybody. All I am saying is, I am sworn here as a senator and … that is why I am doing this. If we do not move, our country will be hurt by this,” he said.
Gordon said a “common friend” had informed him that the family of dollar couriers wanted to donate P5 million to the Philippine Red Cross, which he chairs, in addition to the P20 million they offered to him.
“I told [my friend] that I don’t [accept bribes],” he said.
The President on Monday said the country needed earnings from Pogos, which were bringing funds into the country for their operations.
P17-B income in 3 years
“But the speculation of senators [is] that these are used for laundering, well, we have a listing of the deposits,” he said in a press briefing at Malacañang. “There is a report of money laundering. But there is none from the banks themselves.”
“Someone wins, someone loses” in online gaming, he said.
“So they (Pogos) need money to pay. And that’s it. If they want the payment to emanate from the Philippines, there’s nothing that we can do,” Duterte said.
He said he was concerned about losing the earnings from Pogos.
His spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, last week said the government income from Pogos over the past three years had amounted to P17 billion.
“It would be too bad [if we lose it]. It could help the country,” the President said.
Duterte also said there was no corruption in games supervised by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the state gambling regulator.
“I assure you that every centavo to be earned from gaming supervised by [the Pagcor] are accounted for. There is no corruption there. I will not allow it,” he said.
Gordon maintained that he had gathered enough evidence to prove that several syndicates, composed of Filipinos, Chinese and Singaporeans, had been freely transporting hundreds of millions of dollars stuffed in carry-on bags.
One Singaporean courier with $500,000 in $100 bills entered the country as late as Tuesday morning through Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, he said.
He has blamed the Anti-Money Laundering Council for failing to flag the entry of the “inordinate amount of cash” that Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero called its attention to.
“The sentinels of the country are not doing their job,” Gordon said.
Backed by evidence
Gordon said he would continue the investigation despite Duterte’s statements.
“We will not stop because this is a democracy. We don’t stop our investigation just because somebody is saying ‘No, that’s not true.’ That should not happen,” he said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the President should not dismiss Gordon’s exposé so conveniently as it was backed by solid documentary evidence.
She said Duterte’s remarks would have “no chilling effect” on her own committee’s inquiry into the rise of prostitution and human trafficking syndicates catering to Pogo employees.
“It’s unfortunate if [the President] thinks these issues are not that important. But we, in the Senate, deemed it necessary to investigate Pogo-related crimes,” Hontiveros told the Inquirer.—With a report from Leila B. Salaverria