Prove hidden wealth, I’ll resign – Duterte
P resident Duterte has offered to resign if anyone could prove he has stashed illgotten wealth in Hong Kong. The President issued the challenge after defending anew that his family’s wealth came from legitimate means to counter the hidden wealth charges hurled against him.
One dollar
“Baka may makaturo lang niyan totoo na meron akong deposit maski one dollar diyan sa Hong Kong [If anyone can prove that I have a deposit, even one dollar, in Hong Kong], I will step down as President of this Republic,” Duterte said during the anniversary rites of the Department of Justice Tuesday night.
“Wala akong problema diyan [I have no problem with that]. I have always lived… by the values nakuha ko sa Tatay ko pati Nanay ko [I learned from my father and mother],” he added.
Duterte dismissed allegations he has R211 million in ill-gotten wealth in secret bank accounts.
He claimed that he had issued a bank waiver to disprove the hidden wealth charges but such, he said, was left unused by his critics during the presidential campaign.
Inheritance
On his family’s wealth, the President explained that he became a millionaire at a young age due to inheritance from his parents.
Duterte said he gained “substantial” funds after he and his siblings decided to sell their father’s properties when he died several years ago.
He said his family used to own an ice-making plant and a lumber yard at the height of a construction boom in Davao City.
‘Check bank records’
To prove his claims, Duterte said he was authorizing the public to dig into the records of Insular Bank of Asia and America, now Union Bank, to find out about his old bank transactions.
“You’d find there that ‘noong’ fourth year pa kami, I had a million already. ‘Yan ang totoo [That’s the truth],” he said.
He admitted that he placed his funds under the “double your money” scheme at that bank for the sake of his family.
He said he knew he was living dangerously as a prosecutor several years ago.
Trillanes’ claim
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV had earlier accused Duterte of failing to disclose
R211 million in his bank account when he filed his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth in 2014.
At that time, Duterte’s net worth only showed R21.97 million.
Trillanes later accused Duterte of having more than R2 billion in undisclosed bank accounts from 2006 to 2015.
The President has repeatedly denied the allegations.