Philippine President accused of hiding assets
Mr Duterte has welcomed an investigation by the anti-corruption agency into allegations that he concealed wealth from his time as mayor.
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Mr. Rodrigo Duterte at a regional conference in the Philippines on September 6. Photo: Reuters. |
The Office of the Philippine Ombudsman, the agency charged with investigating wrongdoing by government officials, confirmed yesterday that it had launched an investigation into activities in several bank accounts belonging to Rodrigo Duterte, before he was elected president of the Philippines in May 2016. Duterte served as a congressman, vice mayor and mayor in Davao City for two decades, according to Reuters.
“The president has nothing to hide,” said Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella. “The president respects the internal processes of the Office of the Ombudsman as an independent body and trusts in their impartiality in seeking the truth.”
The investigation was launched after Senator Antonio Trillanes accused Mr Duterte of accumulating 2.2 billion pesos ($43 million) in three bank accounts between 2006 and 2015, when he was mayor. The senator argued that he committed a criminal offense by failing to report it in his official asset declaration.
Mr Duterte has repeatedly traded barbs with Mr Trillanes. The Philippine president has accused the senator of having secret bank accounts overseas. Mr Duterte read out the Singapore bank account number that he said belonged to Mr Trillanes on live television.
After Mr Trillanes took reporters to Singapore to prove no such account existed, Mr Duterte admitted he had knowingly provided a fake account number.
As president, Mr. Duterte has immunity from prosecution, but an investigation could form the basis for his impeachment. However, political experts say that scenario is unlikely because the president is popular and he has tight control over the legislature./.
According to VNE
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