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'Walang itinatago': Tugade says offshore investments legal, disclosed in SALN

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) headquarters in Quezon City. April 24, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/10/04/20180424-lto-arthur-tugade-5-jc.jpeg"/><figcaption>Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) headquarters in Quezon City. April 24, 2018. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Tuesday said his family&#x27;s offshore investments were &quot;valid and legal&quot; and that he has been disclosing them as required since 2012.</p><p>The offshore investments were disclosed in his Sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) under &quot;Personal Properties - Intangible,&quot; particularly as &quot;Offshore Investments&quot; from 2012 to 2020, Tugade said. </p><p>&quot;Wala po akong tinatago, at sasagutin ko ang anumang paratang at katanungan in appropriate forums and manner,&quot; Tugade said.</p><p>(I am not hiding anything and I will answer all accusations and questions in appropriate forums and manner)</p><p>The Transport chief was responding to a report released by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) detailing the &quot;Pandora Papers&quot; about the secret wealth of some of the world&#x27;s top business and political leaders. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/04/21/transport-chief-tugade-keeps-offshore-firm-off-business-list">Pandora Papers: Transport chief Tugade keeps offshore firm off business list</a></li></ul><p>Tugade is a director of Solart Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands company since 2007, according to the data leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).</p><p>In a statement, Tugade said his offshore investment &quot;is a matter of public record.&quot; Solart was established in 2003 to hold part of his family&#x27;s cash assets, he said.</p><p>&quot;The subject offshore investments in Solart Holdings was a personal financial move that was established long before I joined government,&quot; Tugade said. </p><p>He also apologized for not acting on the interview request by PCIJ prior to the publication of the report saying he was left unaware of this due to &quot;administrative oversight.&quot;</p><p>In July, Duterte urged Tugade, his law school classmate, to run as a senator in the 2022 national elections. </p><p>ICIJ says the Pandora Papers contain details of over 11.9 million files leaked from 14 offshore finance providers, which include 900 individuals based in the Philippines. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/16/16/duterte-eyes-former-classmate-as-dotc-chief">Duterte eyes former classmate as DOTC chief</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1789303" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade responded to a report by PCIJ saying he has an offshore company that was not declared in his SALN.