President’s relatives ready to face Senate probe – Palace
Malacañang said yesterday that presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and his brother-in-law lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio are both ready to testify in the Senate’s investigation into the P6.4-billion “shabu” smuggling case through the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
At the same time, the Palace believes that after Senate probe whistleblower Mark Taguba retracted his statement on the alleged involvement of the President’s son and son-in-law in the supposed “Davao Group” in facilitating smuggling at the Customs, their appearance before the investigating panel has been rendered useless.
“There may be no reason for the Senate investigative panel to call the two individuals (Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio) to attend any hearing in Metro Manila, although they have indicated willingness to testify,” said the statement read by Assistant to the Presidential Spokesperson, China Jocson, over Radyo Pilipinas yesterday morning.
Still, Malacañang said it continues to respect the Senate as a co-equal branch and will continue to trust its wisdom on the issue.
“The Legislature is a co-equal branch of the government, and the Executive branch respects the Senate’s independence. We trust its wisdom on this matter,” Jocson said.
It will be recalled that during the congressional hearing into the P6.4billion illegal drug shipment from China which passed through the BOC last May, Taguba mentioned the names of the younger Duterte and Atty. Carpio.
Taguba testified that a certain “Tita Nani” with whom he supposedly transacted with for the supposed Davao Group told him that they are backed by a “vice mayor,” alluding to Vice Mayor Duterte.
In the same breath, Taguba said those involved could have just resorted to namedropping officials to “fix” a deal with him and said he did not believe the President’s son was actually involved in such.
This week, Taguba, in a statement, cleared the brothers-in-law’s names and apologized for dropping their names during the inquiry.