Duterte vows anew to open wealth to scrutiny

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday vowed anew to open his bank accounts to scrutiny amid lingering accusations of hidden wealth against him and his family.

In a speech in Malaybalay City, the president dared ABS-CBN to go with him to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to look into his account.

“I am challenging ABS-CBN. Magpunta kami sa central bank and I will ask the governor to open my account. Pindot lang ’yan computer,” Duterte said.

(I am challenging ABS-CBN. Let's go to central bank and then I will ask the governor to open my account. Just a few clicks on the computer.

“Pagka-sumobra ng P40 million, I will step down. Pero ’pag hindi umabot ng P40 million, maglinya kayo lahat diyan kay sampalin ko kayo isa-isa.”

(If the money is in excess of P40 million, I will step down. But if the money does not reach P40 million, you will line up and I will slap you one by one.)

• No ABS-CBN franchise if Duterte had his way

In his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) as of December 31, 2017, the President declared total assets of P29.34 million, up from P28.43 million in 2016.

Critics, however, said Duterte has millions in undeclared wealth.

VERA Files reported that Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, had joint deposits and investments at the Bank of the Philippine Islands that ranged from P58.83 million to as much as P106.58 million from 2006 to 2014.

VERA Files said these amounts were not reflected in the SALNs of the two Dutertes during the said years.

It said based on the documents, the President and his daughter failed to declare in their SALNs P44.25 million to as much as P85.73 million a year from 2006 to 2014.

VERA Files said the data came from the bank documents provided by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who supposedly sourced them from the Anti-Money Laundering Council and submitted to the Senate on Oct. 3 last year after delivering a privilege speech saying the Chief Executive had more than P2.2 billion in questionable bank transactions.

Duterte and Duterte-Carpio have maintained that Trillanes’ documents are falsified and his allegations unfounded.

The Palace, meanwhile, has called the VERA Files report “hearsay.”

• Palace says report on Duterte and Sara’s undisclosed deposits ‘hearsay’