Davao mayor brings 11 passbooks; media given only a peek

11 PASSBOOKS Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte shows 11 passbooks but only allows media to take a peek. JOAN BONDOC

IN AN ATTEMPT to disprove the accusations, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has leveled against him, presidential hopeful Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday came 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 did not show all and merely presented selected contents of his bank accounts.

He presented bank statements for the questionable dollar and peso accounts at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City.

One bank certificate issued by BPI on March 3, 2016, said the joint account of Duterte and daughter Sara Z. Duterte had a  balance of P17,766.96 as of Dec. 31, 2014.

Duterte’s aide, Bong Go, showed the passbook, which showed that the balance increased to P128,829.64 because several supporters made deposits in the account after it was made public.

According to another bank certificate, the account had only P17,816.98 as of March 31, 2014, three days after Duterte, as alleged by Trillanes, accepted P197 million.

Duterte later admitted owning the account but denied keeping millions.

“Million? No. It’s less than 200 million),” Duterte told reporters.

Duterte showed the bank statements for his dollar account that rival Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas earlier tried depositing $10 in the account to prove it existence.

The Davao City mayor showed a transaction history of his dollar account, which as of April 30, 2016, contained a balance of $5,065.33, including the $10 deposit that a staffer of Roxas had made.

But the mayor only presented documents that covered transactions beginning March 31, 2014.

Trillanes accused Duterte of accepting several cash deposits totaling P193.7 million in the mayor’s bank account at the BPI Julia Vargas branch on his 69th birthday on March 28, 2014.

Duterte dodged the question why he would not present the transaction history earlier than March 31, 2014, saying BPI refused to issue a certification.

The mayor said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Anti-Money Laundering Council would be guilty of criminal negligence should Trillanes’ allegation that his bank accounts had P2.4 billion worth of transactions in 2006-205 was proven true.

“If I win, you will be in hot water. Why did you not investigate this dirty money,” Duterte said.

Gifts

At the press conference, Duterte defended  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.

Duterte likewise has been using Quiboloy’s private jet in his campaign sorties.

The mayor claimed the pastor had been his longtime friend ever since he was a state prosecutor.

Duterte told reporters he would never accept gifts from other people except Quiboloy, who owns a media outfit, a school and other properties in Davao.

Under Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, government officers are prohibited from accepting gifts of significant value from a person other than a member of the public officer’s immediate family.

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