Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte respects a reported investigation being conducted by an anti-graft agency over allegations that he has undeclared wealth hidden in bank accounts, his spokesman said on Wednesday, adding that “the president has nothing to hide.”
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella issued the statement in reaction to news reports that the Philippine Ombudsman, a key government anti-graft agency, has been looking into the allegations against Duterte since last year and has obtained bank records showing large amounts of transactions in past years.
Duterte has denied any wrongdoing and publicly vowed to resign if anybody can prove he or any of his children were involved in corruption. He won the presidency last year with a large margin on a vow to eradicate crime and corruption.
TV network ABS-CBN quoted Philippine Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang as saying that the agency has received Duterte’s bank records from 2006 to last year before he became president and that they show millions of pesos being transacted in joint accounts with his children.
Duterte’s bank records were provided by the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Carandang was quoted as saying.
“We can confirm that we received bank transactions from AMLC,” Carandang was quoted as saying. “There were 40 million [pesos (US$784,776)] ... 50 million ... there were many.”
Duterte “respects the internal processes of the office of the ombudsman as an independent body and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty,” Abella said, adding that “the president has nothing to hide.”
The news reports reignited calls by opposition groups and a lawmaker for Duterte to sign a bank secrecy waiver to allow investigators to look into his bank records.
Earlier this month, Duterte refused a demand by his most vocal critic, opposition Philippine Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, to publicly release details of his bank accounts.
“You must be stupid... Why would I give you the pleasure?” Duterte said.
Trillanes first said that Duterte had unexplained wealth during the presidential campaign last year.
In February, he raised the issue again, saying Duterte had not yet revealed details of more than 2 billion pesos he allegedly kept in bank accounts as a former city mayor.
Duterte inadvertently brought the issue back into public focus when he said Trillanes has several undeclared joint bank accounts with unidentified Chinese men in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and the US.
Trillanes rejected the allegations and signed about a dozen waivers for authorities to look into the alleged accounts and demanded that Duterte do the same.
Duterte launched a personal attack against Trillanes, a former Philippine Navy officer once detained for a failed coup plot.
He mocked Trillanes for losing the vice presidential race last year and alleged that the senator keeps funds in his bank accounts in amounts just below the level that could spark an inquiry.
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