Metro Manila (August 12) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday reiterated his firm stance against corruption, saying he will resign once he is given documentary evidence proving his children are corrupt.
This is in response to reports that his son, Davao Mayor Paolo Duterte, is involved in corruption in the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
"If my son was really into it or is in there, all you have to do is to produce the paper-because there are two ways of evidence-oral [and] documentary…Sabi ko (I said), 'Just give me an affidavit and I will step down as President of this Republic.' And that is my commitment to you now. That is my word," Duterte said at the 100th year celebration of the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
Mark Taguba, a middleman who facilitates the releases of shipments through the BoC, during the Aug. 7 hearing on illegal drugs, said some of those he worked within the bureau name-dropped the vice mayor.
Taguba added he has never seen or spoken with the presidential son. He has also no evidence about the supposed connection of Paolo to a certain "Davao Group," allegedly engaged in illegal activities.
"Recently, itong ruckus diyan sa Customs, every now and then, my son's name…sabi iyong mag-mention. Tapos sinabi ko na iyan sa kanila. The mere mention of our names means corruption. Eh sino iyong taong magdala ng pangalan ko, ng anak ko…so lumabas iyong pangalan ni… Iyong si Paolo, iyong Vice Mayor ngayon." Duterte added.
[Translation: Recently, the ruckus in Customs, my son's name is mentioned every now and then. Then I told them, the mere mention of our names means corruption. Who else would carry my name and my children? Then Vice Mayor Paolo's name came up.]
On Aug. 10, the President also said he will "immediately resign" if the allegations against his son are proven true.
Vice Mayor Duterte, however, denied the accusations in his statement on Aug. 8.
"Taguba admitted that his testimony against me was based entirely on rumors. Why would we entertain or believe a hearsay. One does not dignify lies with a response," he said.
The Customs bureau has been in hot water for the P6.4 billion shipment of drugs from China, which exposed alleged corrupt activities within the agency.
Early this year, Duterte fired Interior Secretary Mike Sueno due to alleged corruption, while National Irrigation Administration chief Peter Laviña resigned to spare the President of corruption allegations.
CNN Philippines' Triciah Terada, Lara Tan, and Ver Marcelo contributed to this report.
Source: CNN
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