TIMELINE: Probe on Duterte’s alleged hidden wealth

MARCH 11. Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, sign a “waiver” allowing the opening of their bank accounts for public scrutiny.

April 27. The Inquirer reports that Duterte, according to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, had at least P227 million—which he did not declare in his latest statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN)—in an account at a bank branch in Metro Manila.

Duterte denies the existence of the account in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City, which allegedly contained the big amount. “I will not play into their hands by issuing a waiver. The account is nonexistent,” he tells the

Inquirer in a phone interview.

April 28. In a press conference at the Magdalo headquarters in Quezon City, Trillanes dares Duterte to sign a waiver that will allow the opening and scrutiny of his bank accounts, and file a libel case against him if the allegations were false.

Journalist Ellen Tordesillas uploads on social media a copy of a deposit slip to one of Duterte’s account at BPI’s Julia Vargas branch. The staff of Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas  deposits P500  in the account, corroborating information disclosed earlier by Tordesillas.

Inquirer Research deposits P100 in the BPI account owned by Duterte. The transaction is completed as shown by a computer-validated deposit slip.

Later, Duterte admits that he had two accounts at BPI Julia Vargas, one with P17,000 in deposits and another with less than P50,000.

Trillanes says he would resign from the Senate and withdraw from the vice presidential race if he could not prove his accusations against the Davao City mayor.

April 29. The bank “waiver” of Duterte and Cayetano is “empty” and invalid, says corporate lawyer Raul Palabrica, who writes a business column in the Inquirer.

The document, Palabrica says, is a pledge to open their bank accounts, not a waiver for opening bank accounts. “A waiver has to be expressed and specific. And it is directed to a particular bank or person,” he says.

The Inquirer reports Duterte had transactions amounting to P2.407 billion in three bank branches (two in Metro Manila and one in Davao) over a nine-year period.

Duterte says he had “less than P200 million” in BPI Julia Vargas and that he did not declare it in his SALN in 2014 because he had already spent it. He says the money came from friends as birthday gift.

Duterte urges Trillanes to execute an affidavit stating that he has records of the alleged bank accounts, and the manner and purpose with which the documents were obtained.

Roxas shows to reporters a deposit slip for $10 (about P470) his staff put in one of the BPI accounts owned by Duterte and his daughter Sara as reported by the Inquirer.

April 30. Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan , Duterte’s party, insists that the mayor has only two accounts at BPI Julia Vargas with P17,000 and P27,000 in deposits, not “less than

P200 million” as Duterte told reporters.

Duterte says he is willing to open his bank account transactions as far back as 20 years as he has nothing to hide, but on the condition that all his rivals would do the same.

May 2. Throngs of supporters troop to BPI Julia Vargas but no bank records are opened during the much-awaited face-off between the camps of Duterte and Trillanes at the bank branch where Duterte admitted keeping bank accounts.

Instead of a waiver, Duterte lawyer Salvador Panelo requests BPI to look into his client’s records and to issue a certification that “at no time since the opening of the account has there been P211 million whether singly, collectively or cumulatively deposited to his bank account.”

The bank branch, however, asks for seven days to respond to the request.

At a news conference at the Magdalo headquarters in Quezon City following his meeting with Duterte representatives at BPI Julia Vargas, Trillanes presents his signed affidavit that identified his informant as Joseph de Mesa.

May 4. In an attempt to disprove the accusations against him, Duterte comes up with his 11 passbooks but allowed the media to only take a peek at some of his bank transaction history. At a press conference in Manila, the trash-talking mayor merely presents selected contents of his bank accounts.

At the press conference, Duterte defends his decision to accept from Pastor Apollo Quiboloy gifts, which included properties and a car, saying he had never meddled with Davao City’s business transactions. Quiboloy is the founder and leader of The Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name Inc. Inquirer Research

Source: Inquirer Archives

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