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Duterte blasts Roxas' ally; slams 'oligarchs' anew

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<figure class="op-interactive"><div style="padding-top:66.375%"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1466602" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></div></figure><p>MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has fired another broadside at &quot;oligarchs&quot; and vowed to go after them during his term.</p><p>&quot;I will destroy oligarchs,&quot; the President told a crowd of soldiers at the Camp Lapu Lapu in Cebu City on Friday evening.</p><p>An oligarch is defined as a person who belongs to a small group of people who govern or control a business enterprise. Duterte said oligarchs are those who &quot;make money at the expense of the poor.&quot;</p><p>Duterte earlier tagged business tycoon <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/03/16/duterte-singles-out-ongpin-in-anti-oligarchy-pitch">Roberto Ongpin</a> as among the oligarchs on his list.</p><p>Duterte named another alleged oligarch in his speech -- Eric Gutierrez, a mining company owner and ally of defeated presidential candidate Mar Roxas.</p><p>&quot;Tingnan mo itong si Gutierrez, isa pa iyang oligarch,&quot; Duterte said. &quot;Nagpasok ng eroplano, walang bayad. Nagpasok ng chopper, walang bayad. Nagmina doon sa Agusan, sinira &#x27;yun.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Kayong mga manloloko sa Pilipino ang mga oligarch. Kayong mga Pilipinong hindi nagbabayad ng buwis,&quot; he added.</p><p>Gutierrez owns the jets Roxas used during his <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2016/nation/02/16/16/mar-on-campaign-jets-hindi-yan-hiram-o-utang">campaign</a>. The former interior secretary clarified that he paid for the use of the jets, but admitted that he is friends with Gutierrez.</p><p>Gutierrez reportedly is <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2016/nation/02/18/16/caap-confirms-roxas-pal-can-rent-out-planes">part owner</a> of SR Metals Inc. (SRMI), and its subsidiaries San R Minin and Galeo Mining Equipment Corp. which operate nickel quarries in Tubay, Agusan del Norte.</p><div><strong>WAR AGAINST OLIGARCHS</strong></div><p>Duterte on Wednesday started his tirades against these so-called oligarchs, singling out Ongpin. Gutierrez was the next to be named.</p><p>“I’ll give you an example, publicly, Ongpin, Roberto. Malakas kay [Ferdinand] Marcos noon, trade minister, I think. Malakas sa succession: [During] Ramos he was a hanger on and kay Gloria [Arroyo], PNoy. Now he owns the online [gambling],” he said.</p><p>“These are the guys na umuupo lang sa eroplano nila, umuupo lang sa mga mansion nila kung saan-saan yung pera nila nagpapatak, parang metro ng taxi. Sabi ko, destroy,” he added.</p><p>Ongpin has since resigned his post as top executive of PhilWeb Corp. on Thursday, following Duterte&#x27;s speech and a plunge on the online gaming company&#x27;s shares.</p><p>READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/04/16/ongpin-resigns-from-philweb-after-duterte-blasts-oligarchs"><strong>Ongpin resigns from PhilWeb after Duterte blasts &#x27;oligarchs&#x27;</strong></a></p><p>PhilWeb shares plunged by as much as 50 percent, before closing 36.88 percent lower to P8.95. It was the stock&#x27;s steepest decline on record according to Bloomberg.</p><p>Ongpin, a trade minister during the Marcos dictatorship, announced his resignation as company chairman and director in a disclosure to the stock exchange. He did not give a reason for his decision.</p><p>Before his tirade on Wednesday, Duterte said in June that he would stop online gambling and since then, regulators have renewed the company’s license on a per-month basis.</p><p>On Friday&#x27;s speech, Duterte criticized Ongpin once more, but commended his resignation from PhilWeb.</p>

<p>President Rodrigo Duterte has fired another broadside at "oligarchs" and vowed to go after them during his term.</p>

President Rodrigo Duterte has fired another broadside at "oligarchs" and vowed to go after them during his term.