Duterte cites SMC chief’s donation, but he’s not on list of campaign donors

President Duterte on Tuesday night said top businessman Ramon Ang had given him money during the campaign, and thanked the San Miguel Corp. president for helping his administration.

Speaking at the Christmas party of the Office of the President where the San Miguel Corporation president was a guest, Mr. Duterte once more noted that only a few people had campaigned for him.

“Ramon Ang gave me some money. It’s not big, but it’s not small, but enough to finance one trip there, one trip here,” Mr. Duterte said.

Not on donors list

Ang’s name, though, did not appear in his statement of contributions and expenditures.

The President spoke of warm ties between him and the businessman, saying the two of them have become “fast friends.”

“You have a disarming attitude of humility. You would really be disarmed, so we became fast friends,” he said.

He thanked Ang for promising to build a drug rehabilitation facility.

San Miguel earlier pledged a P1-billion donation to build rehabilitation centers.

Ang has also donated equipment to soldiers, he said.

Other pledges

The businessman earlier joined Mr. Duterte in his state visits to China and Singapore.

Ang also helped Sen. Grace Poe, one of Mr. Duterte’s rivals for the presidency, during the May 2016 elections.

Poe had disclosed that she had borrowed a plane from him during the campaign.

The Liberal Party had also reportedly used his plane.