Philippine president says will snub graft probe
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would not cooperate with a special anticorruption prosecutor’s investigation into allegations he acquired ill-gotten wealth, vowing he would “not submit” to its authority.
The ombudsman said last week it was investigating claims Duterte’s bank accounts had hundreds of millions of pesos (millions of dollars) which he failed to disclose as required by law.
Duterte responded by lashing out at the ombudsman, calling the agency “lousy” and saying allegations against him were “lies based on baseless” information.
“I will not submit to the jurisdiction (of the ombudsman),” Duterte said in a curse-laden speech to local lawyers on Saturday night.
“Waving fabricated evidence, lying to his teeth in front of the nation and then you want me to submit to the jurisdiction of the ombudsman,” Duterte said referring to Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang who had announced the probe.
Duterte’s remarks contradicted his spokesman’s statement last week that the president respected the ombudsman and trusted its impartiality.
During the election campaign Duterte had said he came from a poor family and lived a modest lifestyle which boosted his image as an antiestablishment politician representing the common folk, analysts said.
The ombudsman probe stemmed from a plunder complaint filed before the elections by opposition senator Antonio Trillanes who alleged Duterte embezzled government funds during his more than twodecade stint as mayor of the southern city of Davao. — AFP