Duterte: Official said to be living lavish lifestyle is not Sereno

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and President Rodrigo Duterte. (File photos from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

President Rodrigo Duterte denied Tuesday he was referring to Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno when he slammed a government official who had allegedly been enjoying a lavish lifestyle by traveling abroad.

“Si Justice Sereno made insinuations that siya ’yung itinuturo ko. Actually, none of the above… Generic ’yun,” Duterte said in a speech in Malacañang.

“I rely on documents that are given to us here in the Palace… I do not put a premium of truth in it actually. But that is something that is transmitted to us officially,” he added.

Duterte said he was obliged to make the issue public.

“If that is the situation, I have to make it public,” he said. “I cannot make it a secret because the people will say: ‘Ipinaalam namin ’yan, wala namang ginawa’,” he said.

On Aug. 22, the President revealed that a government official, s not from the executive branch, was allegedly enjoying an expensive lifestyle abroad.

“May isang opisyal tayo dito sa gobyerno na tinignan namin ang travel. Hindi sa departamento ko, not the executive department. Kung mag-sakay ng eroplano, mag-abroad, first class, tapos ’yung mga hotel niya, ’yung mga suite. May isang presidential suite pa ang kinuha. P****. This will come out,” he said in a speech in Malacañang.

Sereno has already said she didn’t feel alluded to by Duterte’s allegations.

The chief justice has earned the ire of the President for her remarks on the government’s war on drugs and the Reproductive Health Law. /atm