Paolo Duterte: Allegations against me are ‘baseless,’ ‘hearsay’

Appearing before the Senate probe on alleged corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said he would not answer allegations “based on hearsay.”

“In compliance with the invitation of this honorable committee and as a gesture of respect to the Senate, I am formally appearing in today’s proceedings. Once and for all, I now have the time to deny any and all baseless allegations thrown against me,” Duterte said in a prepared statement.

“My presence here is for the Filipino people and fellow Davaoeños. I am very sorry but I cannot answer allegations based on hearsay,” he said.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee resumed its investigation on the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through the BOC as well as the “tara system” in the agency.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV sought the invitation to the vice mayor and Carpio on allegations that they were involved in smuggling.

The presidential son then took a swipe at a senator, whom he did not name.

“In closing, a Senator once said that we are a family of murderers and I am untouchable. Allow me to quote a message from a colleague of mine, every talk has its day; the law of karma will operate specially to those with evil intent,” he said. CBB