Roxas joins fray vs Duterte, signs waiver

Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas showing proof that Rodrigo Duterte’s BPI bank account exists. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net

“You don’t deserve to lead our country.”

Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas on Thursday made this stinging rebuke of one of his rivals, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, after presenting to reporters a deposit slip allegedly proving Duterte’s ownership of a bank account that supposedly contained P227.4 million (not P211 million as earlier reported).

The mayor did not declare the alleged multimillion-peso account in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) as mandated by law, according to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a vice presidential candidate.

“You are lying again. When will we learn the truth from you? When will we be able to take your word?” Roxas said at a news briefing at the LP headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City.

“Mayor Duterte, tell the truth. Our people deserve no less,” he said. “Step up, Mayor Duterte. (The future of) our country is at stake here.”

He again dared Duterte, who claimed Trillanes’ exposé was just a “fabrication,” to withdraw from the presidential race if he would be able to prove that the mayor indeed owned the account at the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City.

In a firm voice, he said: “Mayor Duterte, you don’t deserve to lead our country because you’re a liar. I will fight you.”

Liar brother to thief

“You’re seeking the presidency, but you’re openly lying. There’s a saying that a liar is brother to a thief. Maybe they’re also brothers to a murderer,” he said.

Roxas said his camp received an e-mail from an unnamed private individual informing them that he was able to make a P500 deposit at the BPI branch at Alabang Town Center mall in Muntinlupa City  around noon on Thursday.

He presented an enlarged photocopy of the deposit slip showing that a P500 deposit was made to account number 002433-0695-39 at 1:24 p.m.

A computer-generated entry in the deposit slip showed that the account was registered under “RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE OR RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE AND SARA Z. DUTERTE.”

Sara is Duterte’s daughter, who is now running for the mayoral post that he would vacate.

To check if the deposit slip was valid, Roxas said he asked one of his aides to go to a nearby BPI branch in Farmer’s Market, just a few steps away from his campaign headquarters in Cubao, Quezon City, to deposit P500 in the same account.

“This is the actual (deposit slip),” he said, holding a small white paper issued by the bank.

The document contained the same account number and the registered owner that appeared in the deposit slip he received by e-mail.

Said Roxas: “This is the truth. We were able to validate that such a bank account under the names of Rodrigo Duterte and Sara Duterte indeed exists.”

He then took to task Duterte, who signed a “covenant” with his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, challenging the presidential and vice presidential candidates to make  their bank accounts available for public scrutiny.

Dismissing the covenant as a mere publicity stunt, Roxas signed a document in front of reporters authorizing the Office of the Ombudsman to look into his own bank accounts since he joined public service as Capiz representative in 1993.

“For all of you, this is the real thing. I’m a private individual. I have no obligation to do this because my obligation to file SALN stopped when I resigned from the government last year,” he said.

In the single-page document, Roxas allowed the Ombudsman to “obtain and secure from all appropriate government agencies … such documents that may show my assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests and financial connections.”

“I have always been an advocate of transparency, especially in public service. I have nothing to hide,” read a portion of the document.

“However, as a candidate for President … I want to prove that I am fully worthy of the people’s trust,” it added.