DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 April) — Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, frontrunner in the Presidential race, has authorized his lawyer to go to the Bank of Philippine Islands branch on Julio Vargas Avenue in Pasig City on Monday to open his bank records amid allegations by Senator Antonio Trillanes that he has P211 million deposit that he did not declare in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).
Trillanes made the allegations on April 27 but two days later alleged Duterte’s bank accounts with daughter Sara had a total of P2.04 billion worth of transactions.
Duterte denied Trillanes’ allegations. In a press conference in Pasay City on Friday he said, “at least I can tell you na hindi talaga P200 million.”
Trillanes challenged Duterte to meet him on May 2 at 11 a.m. at the BPI branch and sign a waiver on his right to bank secrecy.
On Friday, Duterte accepted Trillanes’ dare but will send Panelo in his stead because he has a rally in Zamboanga.
Duterte’s Media Team said Duterte imposed a condition, for Trillanes to sign an affidavit and file a case against him.
When Trillanes’ allegations about the P211-M bank deposit became headline news on Wednesday, Duterte told the Makati Business Club not to believe Trillanes as his allegations are “pure garbage.”
“What I have is P200,000,” he said.
Duterte’s spokesperson Peter Lavina posted on his Facebook wall that “the Trillanes bombshell of a bank account with P211 million does not exist. Mayor Duterte admits to BPI accounts but with only P50K and P17K in it.”
Atty. Paola Alvarez, spokesperson of Duterte’s party, PDP-Laban said Trillanes’ allegations are “getting ridiculous by the day” and referred to him as “inventor of the week.”
“This is getting ridiculous by the day. Two days ago, Sen. Trillanes accused Mayor Duterte of having an undeclared P211 million bank account. Today, he said the mayor’s accounts had P2.4 Billion worth of transactions. What’s next, Mayor Duterte is behind the $81 Million Bangladeshi bank heist? This is already the height of absurdity,” Alvarez said. (MindaNews)
